Let’s check out the mini-reviews from Round 1 of the National Premier Leagues Northern NSW Women’s competition.
Catch up on all the action below!
Match of the Round
Charlestown Azzurri 2-1 Maitland FC
Charlestown coach Niko Papaspiropoulos was delighted with his side’s character as a spectacular late Lori Depczynski goal gave Azzurri a winning start to the campaign against Maitland.
Emily Diaz gave Charlestown the lead on the half hour mark at Lisle Carr Oval on Sunday after she smashed home following Cassie Corder’s fantastic mazy run and shot.
Maitland equalised on 65 minutes through Madeline Howard’s finish after her own strong run down the left.
Both sides had chances to secure the three points at 1-1 but it was Depczynski who ensured Charlestown would celebrate a successful opening round.
Depczynski had been on the pitch less than two minutes after replacing Lilly-Jane Babic when she produced a brilliant first-time strike from outside the right edge of the penalty area into the top corner.
Maitland pushed desperately for their second equaliser of the afternoon but it was not to be, with Azzurri holding on for an important first up win.
“It was obviously great to start with a win. It wasn’t an easy game. Maitland made it extremely difficult for us,” Papaspiropoulos said.
“Good chunks of the game were a bit scrappy. We were not at our best with the ball in possession. We’ve definitely got some things to work on this week. But the most promising thing even though maybe we didn’t play our best was we were able to get the win having to play a bit ugly.
“They’re great characteristics to have and that’s down to the girls. The way they responded even when we conceded, that attitude carried through the whole game and we found a way to get a result.
“Sometimes it’s not about the quality of players that makes a difference. Both us and Maitland have a lot of quality over the pitch and it showed. But the girls just had that hunger and desire to get over the top.
“I think I started to realise with the girls especially the last month of pre-season their attitude in some of the tougher trial games didn’t waver. They didn’t put their heads down, they battled to get the win even if it wasn’t the cleanest or prettiest game.
“That sort of attitude is extremely critical if we want to be playing finals or winning competitions. We need to have that attitude and positive mindset to push through the bad patches in games.”
Papaspiropoulos paid tribute to midfielders Indianna Asimus and 17-year-old Evie Horgan who were tireless in the middle of the park. Azzurri also had to overcome the loss of Alyssa Togo to a potentially serious knee injury after 11 minutes.
Maitland were without returning coach Keelan Hamilton who was in the Kyrgyz Republic with the Young Matildas at the AFC under-20s Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers.
But Magpies assistant coach Tara Johnson said Hamilton’s absence was not a factor, instead lamenting a nervous start.
“I think we started nervously… we had a bunch of new girls playing together. They obviously played together in pre-season but this was the start of our season and it took a few minutes for them to find their legs and grow into it,” Johnson said.
“I think for most parts we controlled the second half. Whilst it was a disappointing result it was largely a positive performance. We won every statistical area across the field except the most important one.
“I don’t think [Hamilton being away was a factor]. Training was good this week. The girls were well aware of him being away. There was no change from a coaching or expectations perspective. Training was the same.
“We had plenty of opportunities. I think going forward we’ll learn a lot from the two goals we conceded. I think we need to improve in front of goals but we will keep building. We’ve got some young girls filling those roles up front really well.
“And there were a number of positives. I think Imogene [Tomasone] in goal was our player of the game. She was fantastic with her leadership and she made a number of good saves. And Lisa Cochrane came off the bench at half-time and made a real impact.”
Charlestown will look to build on their opening round win when they take on New Lambton at Alder Park on Sunday, while Maitland face another tough task against Newcastle Olympic at Darling Street.
Broadmeadow Magic 4-1 New Lambton FC
An Adriana Konjarski double saw Broadmeadow Magic start their season on a strong note, downing New Lambton FC 4-1 at Magic Park on Sunday.
It took Konjarski less than four minutes back in red to open her account for the season, poking home from close range after fine work down the left from Lucy Jerram.
Jerram and Konjarski combined again to double the advantage in the 23rd minute, with Jerram firing across goal for Konjarski to tap in.
Jerram made it a hat-trick of assists 17 minutes into the second half, with Kirstyn Antoni nodding home Jerram’s corner.
New Lambton pulled a goal back with 11 minutes to play through a fantastic Tara Pender solo effort.
But Jannali Hunter snuffed out any faint New Lambton hope in the final two minutes when she finished following a Konjarski corner.
Two goals and an assist was a fine way for Konjarski to start her season back at Broadmeadow, after the reigning NPLW NNSW Player of the Year left Warners Bay where she won the premiership-championship double last season.
Mid Coast FC 0-5 Adamstown Rosebud JFC
Mid Coast FC coach Emma Stanbury said Sunday’s 5-0 loss to Adamstown Rosebud would help her young side learn how to play at NPLW NNSW level.
Adamstown made the long trip north to Taree Zone Field looking to get their season off to a strong start and took the lead in the 17th minute when Tanya Jones’ long range effort slipped through Grace Davies’ fingers.
The visitors doubled their advantage three minutes later when Tara Cousins won the ball in the middle of the park before threading a delightful through ball for Jones to calmly round Davies and score her second.
Courtney Anderson celebrated her Adamstown debut with a goal two minutes into the second half after a neat touch from Jones.
Jones completed her hat-trick on the hour mark when she bundled the ball home at the back post from a free kick.
Rosebud added a fifth in injury time when Ash Vetter nodded home from a corner.
But Stanbury believes the score did not reflect the closeness of the match, with her side learning plenty of harsh but valuable lessons.
“Anyone watching that game I think would say the score was not reflective of it,” Stanbury said.
“We made a couple of mistakes and gave away some goals. It was a very physical match for our younger girls. I think it was a bit of a shock for the first round and it’s something we’ll address this week. I think we’ll bounce back very strongly because there were a lot of positives.
“We actually held a lot of possession. A couple of the goals were poor defending including myself. I made a mistake in midfield. But we had a lot of possession and we had a lot of girls stepping up to the intensity and physicality level. It was a bit of a shock to the system. But now they know what to expect heading into round two.”
It could have been a very different game for Middies, who lost young star midfielder Marissa Masterantonio after 20 minutes following a head knock.
The hosts where then awarded a penalty when Adamstown goalkeeper Olivia Sneddon was adjudged to have fouled Sarah King when attempting to win the ball.
Young gun Zora Boskovski saw Sneddon save her penalty, though Sneddon was adjudged to have moved off her line early forcing the penalty to be retaken.
Stanbury stepped up this time, only for Sneddon to make another fabulous save low to her left.
“Marissa having had to go off after 20 minutes made it a bit harder for how we wanted to play,” Stanbury said.
“The disappointing thing was that we didn’t take advantage of our momentum. We had a penalty to get it back to 2-1. The goalkeeper made two brilliant saves. If we score there maybe the momentum changes our way.
“I think they were a bit older obviously and more experienced and took advantage. That comes with game management and us learning when to slow the game down or speed it up. And it’s something we’ll address and learn from moving forward.”
Warners Bay FC 0-16 Newcastle Olympic
Sophie McDonald was the star for Newcastle Olympic as they trounced defending premiers and champions Warners Bay 16-0 on Sunday.
McDonald scored seven goals in the first half at John Street to give the 2022 grand finalists a 9-0 advantage at the break.
Brooke Summers and Marion Dunbabin also notched in the first half before Dunbabin completed her hat-trick in the second.
Sophie Walmsley scored a second half double, with Jemma House, Georgia Amess and Tori Johnson also getting on the scoresheet.
It was a tough afternoon for Warners Bay, who lost almost their entire senior squad and first grade coach to other clubs over the summer.
The Panthers will look to bounce back when they host Adamstown Rosebud on Sunday, while Olympic will likely get a much tougher test when they welcome Maitland to Darling Street.