Ten Goal Stalemate At AJ Kelly Park
Peninsula Power 5 (Martin 30’; Watt 37’; Phillips 72’; Whitfield 77’; Harrington 90+5’) Souths United 5 (Krecek 9’, 63’, 77’; Lawson 21'; Watson 34’)
HT 3 - 2 Played at A.J Kelly Park
It was a cold, blustery night in the Peninsula and both teams would've come in with the hope of getting something from the game and each would be upset they didn't leave with all 3 points. The conditions were good for a twilight game of football, both Souths and Power showed a massive Improvement from their last turn out in the Mt. Franklin Women's Premier League. It was a high octane game that twisted and turned from the first whistle. Souths opened the scoring inside the opening 5 minutes when Isabella Krecek found herself through on goal as she went past a static power defence, scoring the first goal of Souths 2017 season. The next 15 minutes was all Power, as they tried to get their way back into the game, but Kate Lawson stood up for Souths against the run of play and struck with a long range effort that left Jessica Scicluna frozen. Some miscommunication out wide from United, and the hosts found their way back into the game. Brittany Whitfield picked up the turnover and played a ball across the face of goal for Chelsea Martin to take a touch and convert to get one back. But it took only a matter of seconds and Power's defence switched off, inviting Alice Watson to find the back of the net. That she did with another long range strike leaving Scicluna clutching at thin air. The opening period was back and forth, with both sides threatening in each attack. But it was the Redcliffe outfit who made the most of their chances. Courtney Bargh ventured down the left to cross but it was poorly cleared to Brieanna Watt who blasted the ball into the roof the net to give the Power their second of the half. In the closing stages of the second period Peninsula had another chance, it was Martin this time who had a cross come shot hit the post, with the ball falling to Watt but she couldn't find the net for her second of the night. Greg Ellis' half time team talk must've been something, as Power started the half the better of the two sides. They had multiple chances, firing over the bar from incredibly close range, hitting the bar and having a one on chance go begging, all inside the first 20 minutes of the second period. A threaded ball from Shayne Lock set Krecek away and she tucked the ball into the corner of the goal to extend her teams lead arguably against the run of early second-half play. The home-side were looking the more likely to score as the half waned, and Emily Phillips capitalised on a mishap between Bianca Clarey and her centre halves and banged in a strike over Clarey’s head from 40+ yards out. There’s an old saying in football that a two goal lead is the most dangerous to have, and Souths let their two goal buffer slide twice. Whitfield got on the end of a pin-point cross and turned the ball in on the volley, bringing her side level for the first time in 70 minutes of play. Whitfield was up and about again breaking away and striking the post, but it just wasn't to be for the Power when the dangerous Krecek rounded the keeper once more and grabbed her hat-trick to seemingly put the game to bed. But Peninsula just never knew when to quit, Samantha Harrington got her team back level in some incredible late drama when she found the net from distance after a corner in the dying moments of an extended added time period. Some even later heroics from Clarey kept Souths from sliding to an embarrassing defeat when she made two acrobatic saves to deny Power from running away with all three points. It'll be a tough pill to swallow for Paul Lonton and his Souths girls as they coughed up a 2-goal lead twice and should’ve held on at the death. They were much improved from their previous two performances, and continuing to score goals as freely today should put them in good stead for staying in the competition, as long as they don’t concede like they did as well. However, the same could be said about The Power as they also made massive improvements from their Round 1 display. They had their own fair share of chances to get ahead after coming back from behind twice but Clarey kept them from getting all three points at the end, it would’ve felt like a win not a draw for the home-side.
Coaches Remarks:
Gary Ellis (Peninsula Power) - “We were probably lucky in the end, our defence wasn’t good. There’s 5 leaks there, we weren’t tight enough, we weren’t urgent enough in defence. But in attack I thought we did a fair bit to score, we had more chances than them. But good goalkeeping and the goal posts kept us out. That’s football I mean we fought back from 3-2 down at halftime, but we just need to be a bit more urgent around our 18 yard box but I’m pretty pleased with how we came back.”
Paul Lonton (Souths United) - “We went out with every intention to play football, we started well. We were two nil up and decided we would go back to bad habits. We managed to get 4-2 up and then we for some reason just sat and let them run at us, and we paid the price. They were quite physical if that’s the way they want to play the game that’s fine. We weren’t smart enough and we let ourselves get caught. To be honest I am really disappointed because I feel like that’s two points given away. Fair play to Power for fighting back.
Match Stats:
Overall Possession: 56% - 44% Shots on Target: 21 - 11 Shots off Target: 11 - 4 Corners: 10 - 2 Free Kicks: 6 - 4 Offsides: 3 - 1 Yellow Cards: 0 – 0 Red Cards: 0 - 0
Team line-ups
Peninsula Power: Jessica Scicluna (GK), Kayleigh Smith, Courtney Bargh, Chelsea Martin, Brianna Watt, Caitlin English, Samantha Harrington, Emily Phillips, Taylah Brotherston, Abby Belford, Miranda Wilson, Mary Dean, Lauren Henderson, Brittany Whitfield
Souths United: Bianca Clarey (GK), Ayla Fetahgic, Megan Mcdonnell, Alexandra Martin, Renee Montgomery, Shayne Lock, Kate Lawson, Isabella Christensen, Isabella Krecek, Charlotte Mace, Brianna Phillips, Esma Coskun, Amy Armistead, Alice Watson
REFEREE: Connor Russell
