Kalgoorlie College FC sealed a spot into the last sixteen of the Metropolitan Cup after a resounding 3-nil victory over Woodvale SC at Chichester Park on Sunday. A brilliant free kick from Tahlia Fyfe in the first half and an opportunistic strike in the second half by Jemma Merrylees set the Kalgoorlie side on the way to a place in the next round of the Metropolitan Cup.
College took control straight from the first whistle, but were unable to convert their good play into goals. At the other end, the back line of Teagan Murray, Shanea Young and Heather Kent, marshalled by Captain Lesley Passmore, were kept on their toes by a strong Woodvale forward line.
College opened the scoring half way through the first half after Erricah William was brought down from behind just outside the 18-yard box. Fyfe stepped up to take the resulting free-kick to bend the ball around the Woodvale wall into the top left corner – a free-kick David Beckham would have been proud of. From their College never looked back but for all their good play, they were unable to convert their chances. On their part, Woodvale pressed to find the equalising goal but each time they pushed forward, the College defence stood resolute.
A moment of concern late in the first half when College Strike Anita Dalton went off with a knee injury after a heavy clash with the Woodvale goal-keeper.
The second half of this enthralling and highly entertaining game proved to be a tighter affair as both sides push for that decisive goal – College looking for that two goal cushion while Woodvale was looking for that equalising goal. Both sides created clear-cut chances early in the second half but neither side managed to takes their chances. A fine save from Jasamin Camplin, diving at the feet of the Woodvale striker mid-way in the second half ,kept the score-line at 1-nil.
Spurred by the dynamic mid-field of Fyfe and Francesca Murray and tireless work on the wings by Jennifer Hawke, Jemma Merrylees, Shaleah Ah-Tive and Jessica Pearce, College push for a second goal and were ably rewarded when Merrylees pounced on a loose ball after a College corner to smash the ball past the Woodvale keeper.
Having gone two goals down, Woodvale pushed forward in numbers looking to rescue a result but each time they attacked, the College back tree, with the help of a strong defensive midfields of Kent and Jessica Merrylees, stood strong to repel any danger.
College wrapped up the game with 15 minutes to go when the impressive Faith Tiotola, on for the injured Dalton, muscled her way past three defenders before unleashing a root foot shoot into the bottom left hand corner to give College a 3-nil lead.
Away fans celebrated on the pitch after the final whistle, having had time to savour the success of a College team that is participating in the competition for the first time.
“It’s a great result for us,” Coach Ronny Ah-Tive commented after the game. “The players want to dedicate it to all the supporter than came down to watch. I would especially like to thank Tyler Minney, who travelled all the way from Kalgoorlie to watch the ladies play but ended up running the lines for us.”
“It was a good performance, we’re very pleased, but there’s still a long way to go in the cup and obviously we need a little bit of luck in the next draw. Things went our way and I’m really pleased for the players and, scoring three goals, will boost their confidence.”
“Tiiotola has done absolutely fantastic and is going to be an important player for us.”
“The free-kick from Fyfe was an absolute peach.”
Reference: http://kalgoorliecollegefc.com/college-ladies-progress-into-last-sixteen