Lightning Ladies Claim Women's City League Cup Final
Logan Lightning 3 (OG 20’; Bayer 25’; Bell 75’) Redcliffe PCYC 0 HT: 2-0
Played at John Fredericks Park, Capalaba
It was a windy afternoon at John Fredericks Park which threatened to affect the game but by the 6pm kick-off the wind had abated. This was a rematch of last years’ final, but this time the result was reversed as Logan Lightning took the Womens City League Cup. Redcliffe PCYC made the early running and for the first five minutes the ball seemed stuck in Logan Lightning’s half of the field. Then Logan began to attack and had three half chances in the next three minutes before Nikola Bayer had an opportunity to open the scoring when she received a pass in the PCYC penalty area. However, she was slow to turn and the defence shut her down and blocked her attempt on goal. Shortly afterwards, a poor goal kick from the PCYC keeper Kylie Browne was gathered by Bayer but again her attempt was blocked. Bayer was in the thick of things again on 19 minutes when put through on goal. She shot to Brown’s right but the keeper got enough of a hand on it to send it just outside the post. The resultant corner was fired in and, in attempting to head clear, Anita Hayburn could only turn the ball into her own net for the opening goal. PCYC responded with a chance for Hayley Magee but her shot from 20 yards out went wide right of goal. On 25 minutes, Logan doubled their lead. Bayer dribbled down the right wing and seemed to have run out of room but she found a yard of space and fired in a high cross that had Browne in trouble and, as the ball came down on the goal line, she could only help it into the goal. Logan then began to make all the running and had a couple of chances to increase the lead. The best of these was when Jessie Swatton glanced a header across goal that, with firmer contact, may have got a better result. On 33 minutes, PCYC swapped goalkeepers with Magee taking the gloves from Browne who came on as an outfield player shortly after. For the next ten minutes neither side was able to create anything meaningful. Then, just before the half, Logan’s Cara Garbellotto was through on the right with a shot on goal that just cleared the angle of the post and bar. The match could have turned three minutes into the second half when Kayla Wimpenny was put through on goal but she dragged her shot well wide with only Logan keeper Tyela Ruska-French to beat. From that point on, Logan began to assert their superiority and nearly added to their total when a free kick from the right was misjudged by Magee in the PCYC goal but the defence recovered to clear off the line. Logan had two chances in the space of a minute with just under 20 minutes left. Garbellotto was put through on the left but the cover defence was across to block her shot. Then a shot from 25 yards was well saved by Magee but she couldn’t hold on to it and the ball came to Garbellotto on the edge of the area but she could only shoot over the bar. With fifteen minutes remaining, the match was put to bed when Gabriella Francisco played in Kymberley Bell just inside the PCYC area. She turned and hit the ball beyond Magee into the far corner of the goal for a 3-0 lead. Logan dominated the last fifteen minutes and had further chances. With six minutes left, Magee dropped a cross behind her but her defence was again on hand to clear. A minute later, Swatton had another glancing header go across goal that reached a team mate whose shot was saved by Magee. Redcliffe had the last chance of the game with a free kick from 25 yards out. Lauren Evans strike was on target which Ruska-French fumbled but quickly recovered to gather the ball before any PCYC attackers could get to it. Logan were good value for their win and dominated the match for significant periods while gaining revenge for last years defeat. Redcliffe PCYC gave it their best shot but were hampered by a number of injuries during the match which upset their rhythm.
Coaches Reactions:
Tim Bingham (Logan Lightning): “A fantastic game. The girls have worked really hard to get here. We had to beat a couple of really tough teams so I’m really proud of them. We were a bit nervous early as they play really direct football which caught us out a little bit at the start. Once we got into the rhythm of things we controlled the game.” Rob Clark (Redcliffe PCYC): “We’re not the side we were last year and have had to rebuild. We beat three City 1 teams on the way here, so for a City 2 team to make the final, we’ve done really well. We were missing our main striker tonight which may have made things a little different. Our usual goalkeeper was also out injured. We battled and fought to the end and I thought it was a great effort from the girls.”
Team line-ups
Logan Lightning: Ruska-French (GK), Bayer, Bell, Brack, Francisco, Fuller, Garbellotto, Grbavac, Johansen, Paech, Richardson, Swatton, Tuson, Vujkovic, Wood Redcliffe PCYC: Browne (GK), Broadbent, Clark, Evans, Glynn, Graham, Hayburn, Judson, Magee, N Newton, T Newton, Sauer, Shervey, Vitikka, Wimpenny REFEREE: Robert Freke
