Grand Final Review Women’s F-League 2014

The following is from Dan De Nardi of Football NSW.

Grand Final

Sydney Scorpions take a bow after becoming the first hummel F-League club to successfully defend their title following a scintillating 3-2 victory over a gallant and hapless Boomerangs at Valentine Sports Park on Sunday morning.

Boomerangs only had three on the bench but wrestled the ascendancy when Maddy Whittall struck true in the fifth minute and they held their nerve to take a slender 1-0 advantage to halftime.

A persistent Scorpions finally leveled through Renee Tomkins just after the break only for the Territorians to reclaim the lead moments later with an acute Whittall strike.

Sydney struck back with eight minutes left when Laura Donnelly bobbed up for a sharply-taken goal, and Donnelly really made a name for herself moments later with another good run and finish that sent Scorpions ahead for the first time – the premiers holding their nerve for a gritty come-from-behind 3-2 win.

While the Sydney-siders capped a tremendous year winning the premiership-championship double, Boomerangs were excellent value with the game in their grasp twice and a self-belief that instantly banished last year’s 6-0 grand-final demons.

Sydney were full of running early but, with vocal goalkeeper Chloe Avgoustou marshalling well at the back, Boomerangs came back into the contest and on five-minutes Doris Osman passed across goal for Whittall to slot home a 1-0 lead.

A busy Scorpions keeper Tani Rosekelly held an excellent Orgill freekick moments later and she blocked well with her legs seconds later to deny Osman a chance to advance the Boomerangs cause.

Sydney were fortunate Rosekelly was on her game to defuse several Territorian raids, but she copped a yellow card for barging Osman off the ball near the sideline to stop another Boomerangs attack.

At the other end Boomerangs player Nicole Somi threw herself in front of multiple Scorpions shots and Rosekelly and Avgoustou went into a mini-challenge as to who could out-save the other as both sides traded barbs.

The game stopped momentarily for treatment to pivotal Scorpions player Renee Tomkins following a tough knock but the defensive intensity didn’t drop for a second as every player showed great commitment to intercept passes, make decisive tackles and deny good opportunities at both ends.

But it was the goalkeepers who shone brightest, Avgoustou snatching the ball off Donnelly’s bootlaces, charging out to block Claire Walsh at the edge of the D, and bending Matrix-style to edge Logan Garard’s clever flick up in the air and smother the rebound before tipping a terrific Garard strike over the bar seconds later.

Rosekelly was just as brilliant in keeping out Georgia Plessas then producing an even more outstanding save with her legs to deny Plessas again just before the break.

The visitors showed determination early in the second term as Orgill laid off to Plessas who smashed it just right of the post, but you could feel a Scorpions resurgence as Jo Anne Saliba waltzed into the D and shot low-left to level the scores minutes after the restart.

Boomerangs weren’t shy about coming forward and Plessas had a good shot tipped over by Rosekelly and another from range whistle past the woodwork, Somi also finding holes in the Scorpions defence and her incisive pass to Whittall just inside the D opened an inch from a tight angle over Rosekelly’s arms to push Boomerangs ahead again on the half-hour.

Sydney held steady and only some desperate defending kept the score unchanged, and with eight minutes remaining a crisp Walsh probe found Donnelly on the burst behind a tiring Boomerangs defence and her delicate tap under Avgoustou restored a 2-2 deadlock.

The ACT-side was having none of it and kept coming at the favourites, Plessas with a good attempt blocked down by Rosekelly, but minutes later it was the Scorpions who threw down the gauntlet when Garard passed to Saliba on the right who thread the ball to Donnelly alone in front of the net and she nudged in for a belated 3-2 lead.

Rosekelly then denied Orgill a leveler from the restart and Osman, who had an outstanding match, was also denied by the red-hot Sydney custodian, Scorpions hanging on for a superb 3-2 victory.

Sydney captain Melanie McCauley sat out the grand final after shattering her collarbone in her first season of outdoor football and could only watch on nervously as her team-mates rallied from behind twice to win an exciting decider.

“That was intense… but rewarding in the end,” she said. “Boomerangs were excellent and made us work hard for it; we just had to stay patient and play to our potential to get back into it.”

“The competition this year was heaps better. Games played practically every weekend was a great idea and there were upsets all the time. I think the league being so good and so even is what makes winning this title even better [than last year].”

Boomerangs coach Kristian Collins shook the anxious sweat from his mane following an epic game that was there for the taking.

“Congratulations to Scorpions… but we should’ve won it,” he said. “Over the balance of play I think we had the better chances, but we’ve got a lot of young players and it was just a lack of maturity and being clinical when it mattered most that cost us in the end.”

“Scorpions have a lot of experienced players who’ve played these big games before, and that’s what ultimately got them over the line. What a terrific season, though!”

Extended report of the finals weekend on the Football NSW website.