FREMANTLE CITY 0-2 PERTH SC
By Ben Gilby
The Azzurri are two points clear at the top of the NPLW WA after a hard-earned 2-0 victory at Hilton Park this afternoon.
Second half goals from Jess Flannery and Ella Lincoln were rich reward for the league leaders, who worked hard to establish themselves on the game, and remained both calm and confident during a battling first half exchange.
Perth head coach Tom Glavovic made two changes to the starting line-up from last week’s impressive win at the Football West Academy, with Matilda Boehm coming in for Tijan McKenna, and Louise Tana replacing Hannah Collins.
It was a real attritional battle of an opening half. Freo had the early possession and territory before the Azzurri took over, with Jess Flannery key to building attacks down the left flank. Clear cut chances remained at a premium with neither goalkeeper called into direct action often during the opening 45.
Perth used their patient passing game to maintain possession, move Fremantle around and look for space to advance. In defensive mode, the Azzurri employed a high press whenever the home side got the ball in the final third which minimised the number of balls into the box.
The best chance of the first half came in the 14th minute when Ella Lincoln was played in, but just as she was about to pull the trigger, a superb last gasp tackle from Freo defender Annabelle Leek denied the Azzurri hot shot.
However, it would take just two minutes of the second half for Perth to hit the front. Lincoln dispossessed Janice Kiama on the edge of the box and curled a shot that came crashing down off of the crossbar. Flannery followed up with a header that Megan Phillips in the Fremantle goal repelled, but the rebound came back to the Azzurri attacker who placed a side-footed volley into the net from close range.
Perth stepped on the gas at this stage, and kept the home side at arm’s length for the rest of the match.
They would double their lead on 56 minutes when, after a Fremantle throw in on parallel with the penalty area, a long clearance from the Perth defence found the head of Kiama, with the ball falling perfectly for Daisy McAllister to beat a gaggle of three Freo defenders and play a perfectly weighted pass through for Lincoln to dispatch the ball into the top left hand corner.
There were two further opportunities for the Azzurri to extend their lead further. First, when Flannery turned on the edge of the box and hit a shot that Phillips held, and then with six minutes remaining when substitutes Ruby Marshall and Maja Archibald combined with the latter letting fly with a shot that Phillips did well to get a glove to and push out for a corner.
This was a pleasing three points for Perth, who had to remain calm and work their way through the first half challenges that Fremantle posed. They never looked back once Flannery put them ahead, and earn the reward of another week at the top of the NPLW WA ladder.
Teams: FREMANTLE CITY: Phillips, Leek, Spatafore, Osborne, Spencer, Adams, Kiama, Meaden, Reynolds, Poad, Wood. Substitutes: Khiati, Nolan, Stiles.
PERTH SC: Schroeder, Nossent, McCartney, Boehm, Longmore, McAllister, Cassidy, Mathers, Lincoln, Flannery, Tana. Substitutes: Ottobrino, Ingrey, Collins (for McAllister), Archibald (for Lincoln), Marshall (for Tana).
Scorers: Flannery 47’, Lincoln 56’.