North Canberra Fire claimed top spot in the Women’s Capital Futsal League by recording the result they needed with a 7-3 win over UC Stars setting up a re-match in the Semi-Finals next weekend.
It took quite some time for the Fire to make the critical breakthrough that they required, the Stars holding firm until a quarter of an hour had elapsed as Reilly Yuen found the space out wide to slam a shot past the previously unbeatable Gabrielle O’Brien in the Stars goal.
That opened the floodgates, and the Fire took command of the scoreboard as Stella De Marco reacted fastest to score the second, swiftly followed by a third, a twelfth of the season from Sharon Chao. And the Fire were to add another before half-time as Ginger Oliver swept home the fourth.
The second-half was much better from the Stars who matched the Fire goal for goal in a thrilling second forty minutes. Natalie De Marco added to the half-time lead with Emily Robertson getting the Stars first goal of the night shortly afterward.
Fire always looked likely to add to their tally and a second of the fixture for both Yuen and Oliver ensured they would claim top spot, but superb goals from Amy Bongiorno and Kayla Wright gave the Stars something to build on ahead of their last four meeting.
ANU Apex kept themselves in with a mathematical chance of making the top four following a 4-4 draw with UC Stars in midweek but needed to win both of their final two matches and hope that the Stars themselves did not secure a victory of their own. As it was, the likelihood was the draw wasn’t enough for ANU.
For a large part of the University derby, it appeared as if Apex would get the win they needed to heap even more pressure on the Stars as Edith Fordyce-Croker struck twice in the opening half, a two-goal advantage that Apex were to take into the half-time break.
However, Stars turned the game on its head with three goals after the break as Amy Bongiorno, Kayla Wirght and Talya Hampson netted, only for Isabella Hopkins to square it up at 3-3. Wright put Stars back in front, Hopkins making it 4-4 for Apex shortly after, but neither side could find what would have been a potentially priceless winner.
West Canberra Lightning secured the points they needed to keep their slim hopes of the top spot alive but were made to fight every inch of the way by a stoic ANU Apex outfit winning 5-4 at Daramalan College.
A superb defensive display from the Apex meant that the Lightning were struggling to make their possession count, a series of excellent blocks, and magnificent goalkeeping from Sheridan McElligott and Sofia Chaverra keeping Lightning frustrated.
This allowed Apex to take the lead two minutes from half-time as a free-kick saw Alex Nealand lash home from the edge of the area. However, Lightning struck twice in no time to turn the match on its head. Firstly, Krista Hagen slotted home an immediate equaliser, before Brittany Palombi saw a penalty come back off the post.
There was heartbreak two seconds prior to the half-time whistle though as Isabella Barac reacted quickest after Chaverra had pushed a shot away, sweeping in from close range to send Lightning into the changing rooms with a narrow 2-1 advantage.
The second-half was as entertaining as the first with Palombi finding the net twice in quick succession either side of a strike from Isabella Hopkins, with Lightning keeping Apex at arms’ length.
A later goal from Michaela Thornton with four minutes to play seemed to have sealed a Lightning win, however Edith Fordyce-Croker and Hopkins netted with a minute to play to make sure of a nervy ending for the reigning champions.
The match between South Canberra Swift and Queanbeyan-Palerang Power at the PCYC in Queanbeyan was halted after sixteen minutes when the roof at the venue began to leak in three different places following a monsoon-like downpour in the NSW City.
Despite the officials waiting for the rain to pass, it was obvious that the fixture could not continue, and the game was abandoned. By that stage, the Swift led 4-0 via a brace of goals from Sienna Birnie and Isabella Hindmarsh respectively.
RESULTS
ROUND 7
Thursday 5 December
ANU Apex 4 (Fordyce-Croker 14’, 17’, Hopkins 32’, 34’) UC Stars 4 (Bongiorno 21’, Wright 31’, 34’, Hampson 31’)
ROUND 10
Friday 6 December
QP Power 0 South Canberra Swift 4 (Birnie 5’, 5’, Hindmarsh 6’, 12’) – match abandoned
Sunday 8 December
ANU Apex 4 (Nealand 18’, Hopkins 28’, 40’, Fordyce-Croker 38’) West Canberra Lightning 5 (Hagen 18’, Barac 20’, Palombi 23’, 29’, Thornton 34’)
UC Stars 3 (Robertson 24’, Bongiorno 38’, Wright 38’) North Canberra Fire 7 (Yuen 15’, 38’, S. De Marco 17’, Chao 17’, Oliver 19’, 37’, N. De Marco 22’)
Monday 9 December
ANU Apex v QP Power
Wednesday 11 December
West Canberra Lightning v QP Power
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | North Canberra Fire | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 85 | 28 | +57 | 25 |
| 2 | West Canberra Lightning | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 84 | 29 | +55 | 19 |
| 3 | South Canberra Swift | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 59 | 30 | +29 | 18 |
| 4 | UC Stars | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 34 | 59 | -25 | 10 |
| 5 | ANU Apex | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 29 | 46 | -17 | 5 |
| 6 | QP Power | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 109 | -99 | 0 |
TOP SCORERS
31: Brittany PALOMBI (Lightning)
21: Reilly YUEN (Fire)
18: Jamie BERKELEY (Lightning)
15: Sienna BIRNIE (Swift)
12: Sharon CHAO (Fire), Tatum MAZIS (Fire)
11: Own GOALS
9: Natalie DE MARCO (Fire), Dianne WILSON (Lightning)
8: Isabella HINDMARSH (Swift)
7: Isabella BARAC (Lightning), Isabella HOPKINS (Apex), Ayla ROBERTSON (Fire)
6: Anneke CORRY (Swift), Krista HAGEN (Lightning), Zoe HALPIN (Swift), Jasmine RICHARDS (Fire), Emily ROBERTSON (Stars), Maddie STEINACKER (Swift)
5: Stella DE MARCO (Fire), Alexandra NEALAND (Apex), Bronte PYKE (Fire), Kayla WRIGHT (Stars), Nadia ZAKMAN (Lightning)
4: Amy BONGIORNO (Stars), Megan CASTLE (Stars), Edith FORDYCE-CROKER (Apex), Samantha PRICE (Swift), Michaela THORNTON (Lightning)
3: Eliza BAKER (Apex), Cara CERUTI (Swift), Kaitlyn COLWILL (Swift), Lucy D’ARCY (Apex), Rhianna GOLDSTEIN (Stars), Tayla HAMPSON (Stars), Alyse JENSEN (Swift), Ginger OLIVER (Fire), Becky RIZZO (Stars), Casey SMITH (Power)
2: Chloe DE MEYER (Power), Alex MARTENS (Fire), Sheridan MCELLIGOTT (Apex), Holly MCPHERSON (Stars), Dannielle WALTMAN (Power)
1: Chloe BARKER (Apex), Sophia BISSELL (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), Sofia PALYWODA (Swift), Megan SNELL (Swift), Zoe WILSON (Power)
