Perth RedStar extended their unbeaten run to 11 games with a 4-0 win at Balcatta Etna on Sunday, a result which maintained their four-point lead at the top of the NPLWA - Women’s competition.
It was a fourth clean sheet in five games for the defending champions who have not lost in the league since Round One.
For Etna, this was back-to-back defeats and they are six points off fourth-placed Murdoch University Melville who they face next week.
RedStar could not have made a better start when they took the lead with only two minutes on the clock. Chiori Ikeda kept the ball alive after Reina Kagami’s cross and her pull-back was turned in for an own goal by the unfortunate Elizabeth Doust.
Buoyed by the early goal, RedStar went after another. Ikeda’s long-range effort dropped inches wide of Gabby Dal Busco’s goal and Kagami’s curler deflected wide of the post.
Dal Busco then made two excellent saves from Olivia Wood. One of them low after a deflected effort, the other following a superb Kagami pass. Balcatta had their moments, too, most notably when Lauren Continibali’s drive forced a fingertip save onto the bar from Shivani Battaglia.
There were no further goals in the first half, but the lead was doubled on the hour by Jay Coleman who was in the right place after Dal Busco saved Kagami’s half-volley from Ikeda’s corner.
Kagami capped a stellar midfield showing as she drilled over the goalkeeper from 20 yards, and a fourth was added in the final 10 minutes when Coleman teed up substitute Abbey Woolley to score for the second successive week when she hammered high into the net.
Fremantle City remain the most likely challengers for RedStar’s crown and their 3-1 victory at Subiaco was a fifth win in a row for Faye Chambers’ team.
Tash Rigby broke down the right and squared for Olivia Trueman to open the scoring on 33 minutes. But Subiaco were on terms before half-time when Savannah Oolsthorn crossed for Dakota Van Vugt to finish past Dayle Schroeder.
Two goals early in the second period ultimately gave the visitors a decisive advantage. Laura Waltman crossed for Matilda Boyle who bundled in from close range, before Rigby collected Sofie Osborne’s diagonal ball to complete the scoring.
Perth SC moved up to third place and a further four points behind Fremantle as Jess Flannery’s hat-trick gave them a 4-2 win over Hyundai NTC.
It was a first win for the Azzurri over the youngsters since Round 18, 2021, and they got off to a great start with two goals inside the first 18 minutes at E&D Litis Stadium.
Flannery turned inside the area and poked the ball past Megan Phillips after good work from Gemma Craine, before Ella Lincoln’s solo run ended with a thumping strike across the NTC goalkeeper.
Ischia Brooking immediately responded for NTC after collecting Tanika Lala’s through pass and slotting in to pull it back to 2-1, and NTC had a great chance to level before the interval but Maja Archibald shot over the bar from three yards.
Perth made NTC pay for that miss seven minutes after the restart when Monique Godding’s reverse pass slipped in Flannery, who struck low past Phillips to restore the two-goal buffer.
That lasted barely a minute, with Grace Johnston scoring a stunning strike for the second week running to cap a terrific week which saw her sign for Perth Glory’s A-League Women’s side.
Flannery would be the afternoon’s decisive player, though, and she made the game safe for the Azzurri with her third as she pinched the ball off two NTC defenders before running towards goal and arrowing in a left-foot shot from 25 yards.
On Saturday, Murdoch University Melville jumped back into the top four with a 10-0 win over Curtin University.
Curtin held out until the 22nd minute when a misplaced clearance landed at the feet of Samantha Mathers, who fired home from just inside the box.
Mathers made it two at the second time of asking after her initial shot was saved, and they soon had a third when Jessica Johnson brought down a cross-field pass and struck low into the corner.
Johnson smashed in a spectacular fourth, before Sophie Meaden squared for Andrea Preiato to make it five as the goals kept raining in for the visitors.
Charli Wainwright volleyed a stunning sixth and Murdoch had seven by half-time when Mathers set up Johnson for an easy finish to complete her hat-trick.
It was the teenager’s eighth goal of the campaign and David Biancuzzo’s team registered their eighth of the night early in the second period when Mathers curled in to join Johnson on a treble.
Mathers burst through several challenges to score a fourth and make it 12 for the season to become the division’s leading scorer, sitting one clear of RedStar’s Reina Kagami.
A third double-figure defeat in a row for Curtin was confirmed three minutes from time when Nicola Ierino scored a first NPLW goal for MUM FC from Wainwright’s cross.
MUM FC sit one point clear of fifth-placed NTC after Round 12, while Curtin remain without a point this season.
Round 12 results
Balcatta Etna 0-4 Perth RedStar
Curtin University 0-10 Murdoch University Melville
Hyundai NTC 2-4 Perth SC
Subiaco 1-3 Fremantle City