Round 20 kicks off tonight to mark 100 years of women’s football by putting on a quadruple-header showcase event at VALO Football Centre, with ladder leaders Inter and Comets one of the two early kick-offs.
Salisbury Inter vs Adelaide Comets
Venue: VALO Football Centre
Date: Friday 24 September, 6:00 PM
Inter have gone from strength to strength, demolishing Fulham 5-0 last weekend, with a fine near-post finish by Erin Hood, some magnificent interplay leading up to Emily Condon’s goal and a textbook skilful Cote Rojas lob capping a great night at the office.
An instinctive header by Nicole Robertson and a sumptuous long-range curler in at the far post by Valeria Guajardo sealed back-to-back wins for Comets and brought them within just two points of fourth-placed Metro.
While their first finals fixture is locked in, the minor premiership isn’t, so Inter will be battling hard to stave off West, while Comets now must fight tooth and nail to stay in the hunt for finals football this season.
Salisbury Inter line-up: Chrissa Pavlomanolakos, Emily Heazlewood, Chantelle Ryder (C), Nicole Calder, Nicola Frazzetto, Isabella Kouimtzis, Khal Adam Khan, Dragana Kljajic, Erin Hood, Maria Jose Rojas Pino, Sharni Tansell, Anna Pritchard, Matilda Comley, Emily Condon, Mina Nishitani, Angelique Vreugdenburg
Coaches: Simon Catanzaro, Brad Donovan, Darran King, Arnouluck Sirisay
Team Staff: Tamara Simeoni, Shreya Modi, Colin Bajkusev
Adelaide Comets line-up: 1. Claudia Jenkins (GK), 3. Chantelle Reed, 4. Emily Gale, 7. Valeria Guajardo (C), 10. Esther M Heywood-smith, 13. Elyse Moon, 14. Pirrie Weeks, 16. Inana Toovey, 19. Hannah Jenkin, 22. Nicole Robertson, 27. Kate Seaton, 28. Kiara O'Sullivan, 31. Joanna Katsabis, 33. Nanako Sasaki, 40. Yuka Sasaki, 46. Clare Davey
Coaches: Andres Obieglo, Joshua Mcloughney, Brian Gale
Team Staff: katerina gatsios, Jade Conlon, Kieran O'Sullivan
West Adelaide vs Adelaide University
Venue: VALO Football Centre
Date: Friday 24 September, 6:00 PM
The second match in our early kick-off tonight sees minor premiership hopefuls West take on an out of sorts Uni side hoping to avoid the wooden spoon.
West kept the pressure on at the top with a 2-0 win over Metro, as Laura Johns beat the keeper in a one-on-one and Nicole Tilley, who is making a habit of scoring exceptional goals, rounded the keeper and slotted into an empty net from near the by-line.
Any faint hopes of Uni moving up the ladder were dashed by Comets in their 2-0 defeat last weekend, as they’re now consigned to a bottom two finish and sit two points above Fulham off the back of four straight defeats.
A top two berth is an important first step for West, which they’ve already achieved, so they must keep winning to have any chance of usurping Inter, while Uni are playing for pride and hoping to avoid the wooden spoon.
West Adelaide line-up: Nicole Tilley, Georgia Macri, Lucy Adamopoulos, Christie Hillyer, Siena Covino, Erin Murphy, Sarah Willacy, Alison Atkins, Emily Hodgson, Laura Johns, Maddie DuRieu, Zoe Haralampopoulos, Khatima Sultani, Georgie Nicola, Mawa Sumaoro, Elena Psaroulis
Coaches: Tracey Jenkins, David Lewis, Alex Macdonald, Leanne Davis
Team Staff: Kirsty Taylor, Lachlan Hall
Adelaide University line-up: Georgia Iannella (C), Velvet Klass, Elle Pirintzis, Aimee Benton (GK), Margarita Fitzharris, Milano Venter, Elysha Magor, Sophie Burke, Sasha Coorey, Stella Rigon, Ellie Sparrow, Elisa Karas (GK), Georgia Box, Mabel Day, Gemma MacFarlane, Alysia Panagakos, Tahlia Curnow
Coaches: Kosta Jaric, Danyon Loud, Paul Peilschmidt
Team Staff: Bodi Love, Mark Bosio, Ebony Charles, Daniella Boccaccio
Metro United vs Football SA NTC
Venue: VALO Football Centre
Date: Friday 24 September, 8:15 PM
The first of the two later kick-offs is a huge clash with massive ramifications for finals football: fourth placed Metro take on fifth-placed NTC in a true six-pointer.
Metro have now suffered back-to-back defeats in their pursuit of finals football action, with their 2-0 loss to West preventing them from all-but cementing their top four spot with two rounds left to play.
NTC fought hard but were unable to overcome City in their match that finished 3-2, despite Camila Madriz Figueroa rounding the keeper and some fine forward pressure that ended in a goal to Lily Di Cola, to remain in fifth on the ladder.
Just one point separates the two sides heading into tonight’s match, so a win to NTC would send them two clear of Metro, but three points in the opposite direction would end their season with a round to go.
Metro United WFC line-up: 1. Melanie Comyns (GK), 2. Ebony Kyriacou, 3. Emma Cotgrove, 4. Talia Bilardo, 7. Millie Scott, 9. Roxanne Dodd, 11. Lauren Steer, 12. Rochelle Draper, 13. Vanessa Reed (C), 14. Annie Green, 15. Mirella Scalzi, 18. Isabella Scalzi, 20. Chanel Todino, 26. Michaela Hadaj, 27. Amber-May Smith, 29. Jessica Signoriello, 99. Olivia Bunge (GK)
Coaches: Antonio Scalzi, Brenton Ellul, Emilio Librandi
Team Staff: Terry Kyriacou, Andreas Zacharia
Football SA NTC line-up: 1. ELYSHIA OGSTON (GK), 2. Abbey Burns, 3. Michaela Belmonte, 4. Zoe Tolland (C), 5. Katie Bowler, 6. Ella Tonkin, 7. Camila Madriz Figueroa, 8. Nicola Scalzi, 9. Anastasia Willoughby, 10. Victoria Costanzo, 11. Erin Kontoutsikos, 12. Libby Davy (GK), 13. Lily Barber, 14. Ella Smith, 15. Lily Di Cola, 16. Madeleine Wright, 17. Claire Scarpin
Coaches: Michele Lastella, Mark Lobianco, Michael Moularas, Anthony Breaden
Team Staff: Sharee Mcnamara, Jason Collins
Adelaide City vs Fulham United
Venue: VALO Football Centre
Date: Friday 24 September, 8:15 PM
The final match of the round takes place between the two sides in black and white stripes who have endured very different seasons, as City play Fulham.
A pair of headers from corners converted by Matilda McNamara and Isobel Dahlen-Flight got City off to the perfect start against NTC and helped them grind out a narrow 3-2 win to lock in a home knockout final in a few weeks’ time.
Fulham’s string of positive results seems like a while ago now, with a 5-0 hammering at the hands of league powerhouse Inter keeping them rooted to the bottom of the ladder and running out of time to improve their position.
Although City can’t move up or down, they’ll be hoping to bring their strong form into week one of the finals, while Fulham are still aiming to dodge bottom spot on the ladder and have just two games left to escape it.
Adelaide City line-up: 1. Kendall Jenner (GK), 3. Matilda Mcnamara, 5. Alyce Macauley, 7. Tiarn Powell, 8. Alanah Ursino, 10. Chelsie Dawber, 11. Isabel Hodgson, 13. Sophie Leszczynski, 14. Chrissie Zikos, 15. Bianca Gray, 16. Isobel Dahlen-Flight, 18. Alana Fitzsimmons, 19. Shae Blackwood, 20. Abbey Lucas (GK), 23. Natalie Frantzis, 28. Anastasia Nuttall
Coaches: Jamie Dunning, Nicholas Whiteside
Team Staff: Seymour Di Bartolo, Alexander Tan
Fulham United line-up: 1. Natalie Hayman (GK), 2. Charlotte Waters, 3. Georgina Toome, 4. Natasha Vella (C), 5. Olivia Bramley, 6. Josephine Trimboli, 7. Siobhan Eastham, 8. Hannah Doyle, 9. Laura Niejalke, 10. Sarah Hunt, 11. Sarah Mills, 12. Fiona Worts, 14. Susan Roberts, 15. Elizabeth Cufari, 16. Mia Lundquist, 17. Angela Mills, 26. Francesca Queale (GK)
Coaches: Ayoub Hassine, Ali Ali, Masoud Teymouri, John RUSSELL
Team Staff: Adam Mortimer, Massimo Primaro, Yacine Grar