South Canberra Swift secured a very first victory over West Canberra Lightning with a 6-5 success at Daramalan College in a battle near the top of the Capital Futsal League with Sienna Birnie netting four goals.
A rip-roaring first-half ended all-square at 2-2 with both teams rattling the woodwork during the opening twenty minutes as Jamie Berkeley hit the outside of the post with Sofia Palywoda and Cara Ceruti hitting the inside of the upright at the other end, the latter with a shot that struck both posts and somehow stayed out.
Earlier, Lightning had dominated the opening stages only to fins themselves two goals adrift as Birnie struck with a classic smash and grab on the break in the third minute, followed in kind by Maddie Steinacker just five minutes later.
But Lightning struck twice before the interval, firstly via a well-taken goal from Jamie Berkeley that squeezed in at the near post, and latterly from a Brittany Palombi side-ball that, smashed across the face of the goal, went in of the side of the boot of Dianne Wilson.
Lightning turned the match on its head as Palombi scored early in the second-half, but the Swift response was excellent, Anneke Corry reducing the deficit before a brace from Birnie put them back in front with a two-goal cushion. Palombi made sure of an entertaining finale, but a Birnie penalty made sure of an exciting win.
North Canberra Fire were again in ruthless mood as they rocketed fifteen goals past Queanbeyan-Palerang Power in a 15-1 victory at the Queanbeyan Indoor Sports Centre on Friday evening.
The damage was mostly done in the opening half as the Fire led 10-1 at the interval, making full use of the width and length of the maximum international sized court that the game was played on, scoring goals in quick succession to which the Power had limited answers.
Both Natalie De Marco and Stella De Marco scored early, with Jasmine Richards finishing off an excellent team move for the third. Reilly Yuen helped herself to a first-half hat-trick, eventually ending with five and moving to nineteen for the season, whilst Stella De Marco and Sharon Chao added to the score, the latter with a quickfire treble.
Chloe De Meyer had pulled one back for Power with a well-taken finish off a swift transition, but the Fire, whilst easing off, kept the scoreboard ticking over after the break as Natalie De Marco ended with four in a comprehensive victory.
The fixture between UC Stars and ANU Apex was postponed after the match officials decreed that the court was dangerous due to water on the playing surface.
RESULTS
QP Power 1 (De Meyer 17’) North Canberra Fire 15 (N. De Marco 3’, 27’, 28’, 37’, S. De Marco 4’, 13’, Richards 7’, Yuen 8’, 8’, 15’, 24’, 36’, Chao 16’, 18’, 20’)
West Canberra Lightning 5 (Berkeley 13’, Wilson 20’, Palombi 22’, 31’, 37’) South Canberra Swift 6 (Birnie 3’, 25’, 26’, 35 (p), Steinacker 8’, Corry 23’)
ANU Apex v UC Stars – Match Postponed
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | North Canberra Fire | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 60 | 20 | +40 | 15 |
| 2 | South Canberra Swift | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 53 | 23 | +30 | 15 |
| 3 | West Canberra Lightning | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 39 | 24 | +15 | 10 |
| 4 | UC Stars | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 25 | 33 | -8 | 9 |
| 5 | ANU Apex | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 24 | -8 | 3 |
| 6 | QP Power | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 78 | -69 | 0 |
TOP SCORERS
19: Reilly YUEN (Fire)
15: Sienna BIRNIE (Swift)
12: Brittany PALOMBI (Lightning)
9: Tatum MAZIS (Fire)
8: Sharon CHAO (Fire)
7: Natalie DE MARCO (Fire)
6: Isabella BARAC (Lightning), Anneke CORRY (Swift), Isabella HINDMARSH (Swift), Own GOALS
5: Jamie BERKELEY (Lightning), Zoe HALPIN (Swift), Ayla ROBERTSON (Fire), Emily ROBERTSON (Stars), Nadia ZAKMAN (Lightning)
4: Megan CASTLE (Stars), Stella DE MARCO (Fire), Samantha PRICE (Swift), Maddie STEINACKER (Swift)
3: Eliza BAKER (Apex), Cara CERUTI (Swift), Kaitlyn COLWILL (Swift), Rhianna GOLDSTEIN (Stars), Krista HAGEN (Lightning), Alyse JENSEN (Swift), Jasmine RICHARDS (Fire), Becky RIZZO (Stars), Michaela THORNTON (Lightning), Dianne WILSON (Lightning)
2: Chloe DE MEYER (Power), Edith FORDYCE-CROKER (Apex), Tayla HAMPSON (Stars), Isabella HOPKINS (Apex), Sheridan MCELLIGOTT (Apex), Holly MCPHERSON (Stars), Alexandra NEALAND (Apex), Bronte PYKE (Fire), Casey SMITH (Power), Dannielle WALTMAN (Power), Kayla WRIGHT (Stars)
1: Sophia BISSELL (Apex), Amy BONGIORNO (Stars), Lucy D’ARCY (Apex), Grace DAVEY (Apex), Tina GOPALAN (Apex), Lauren HALL (Swift), Emmalea KALENJUK (Power), Briana MAGUIRE (Apex), Tarah MANTHONGSY (Stars), Jessica MITCHELL (Stars), Eliza-Jane NORRIS (Stars), Ginger OLIVER (Fire), Sofia PALYWODA (Swift), Megan SNELL (Swift), Zoe WILSON (Power)
