FOOTBALL WEST ACADEMY 0-4 PERTH SC
By Ben Gilby
The Azzurri executed an impressive performance in tough conditions at the Sam Kerr Football Centre to comfortably dispatch a Football West Academy side who went into the game top of the NPLW WA.
This victory for Perth now sees them climb to the summit of the ladder themselves after a hat-trick from Ella Lincoln, and a header from Sam Mathers sealed a vital three points.
Perth head coach Tom Glavovic named an uncharged starting line-up following last weekend’s impressive win over defending champions Perth RedStar. On the bench, Matilda Boehm returned after being unavailable for the last three league games.
The opening 45 minutes were largely transitional in nature, with the usual strong breeze at the Sam Kerr Football Centre providing an additional challenge for the players to overcome. It would be accompanied by driving heavy rain in the second half.
The Azzurri were crucially able to have time to play their passes which assisted them in retaining more of the ball than their teenage opponents. A combination of McKenna and Cassidy being able to use their range of ball control and directing passes, plus Sam Mathers putting in her most eye-catching display of the league season to date enabled Perth to have the better of the exchanges.
The Azzurri hit the front just after the quarter of an hour mark when Jess Flannery escaped along the left to pull over a high cross, aided by the wind that Mathers was able to nod home from close range.
It was tough for the home side to respond initially as Perth were working hard in defence to ensure that the FWA’s key creators such as Theodora Mouithys, Xuri Dalton, and Klaudia Houlis had little opportunity to drive forward.
Indeed the league leaders had just the one major opportunity, which came with four minutes of the half remaining as Sakura Leong crossed in from the right and Houlis volleyed the ball into the net, but the assistant referee’s flag was up instantly, judging that the ball had gone over the by-line before Sakura could deliver it.
Right on half time, the Azzurri doubled their lead after referee Jasmine Bremner awarded an in-direct free-kick in the penalty area to the left of centre following a school yard style scramble where the ball got caught up amidst a forest of legs. Mathers laid the set-piece off for Lincoln to fire home.
The home side looked to ring the changes at the break with three substitutions made, but it had little impact as within seven minutes of the re-start, Perth went three up.
Lincoln and McAllister combined to the left of centre and, with Macey Barlow beaten, McAllister turned the ball across for Lincoln to sweep into the net.
Just after the hour mark there was a chance for both sides in quick succession. First, Flannery and McAllister worked an entry into the box, but Daisy McGreadie Cole made the save. Then, Leong’s pace beat Violet Longmore along the right, however, the eventual shot went wide of the left-hand post for the Academy.
With just over 20 minutes remaining, Lincoln completed her hat-trick after Flannery skipped past Sam Brady on the left hand edge of the box to supply the perfect low ball in for her partner in crime to sweep into the net.
The Azzurri managed the rest of the game excellently to record an excellent win. This victory takes them to the summit of the NPLW WA ladder, and extends some impressive stats. It’s now nine goals in two games – both encounters against teams who went into the matches top of the table – and goalkeeper Dayle Schroeder kept her sixth clean sheet of the season.
It’s all building towards a thrilling final third of the season.
Teams: FOOTBALL WEST ACADEMY: McGreadie Cole, Santich, Johnson, Barlow, Leong, Houis, Kuzamba, Dalton, Heys, Mouithys, McAuliffe. Substitutes: Dumont, Williams-Jones, Santos, Garnett, Brady, Borg, Wainwright.
PERTH SC: Schroeder, Nossent, McCartney, McKenna, Longmore, McAllister, Cassidy, Collins, Lincoln, Flannery, Mathers. Substitutes: Ottobrino, Ingrey, Tana, Archibald, Boehm, Marshall.
Scorers: Mathers 16’, Lincoln 45+1’, 52’, 69’.
Referee: Jasmine Bremner.