Olympic Women Dispatch Pride
Words: Matt Dorman
Olympic FC Women are three points off top spot after clinically overcoming Western Pride Women 3-0 at Briggs Road Complex on Sunday night.
Pride had opportunities to build on last week’s walkover against Souths United Women but were ultimately outclassed by the competition’s third-placed team.
It was an end-to-end opening to the match and Olympic winger Demi Robins duly delivered an early opener, tucking away Leah Miles’ pass across goal in the 6th minute.
Veronica Williams and Sasha McDonell, scorer of a hattrick last round, both attempted to pull Pride level throughout the remainder of the half but were unable to beat 16-year-old goalkeeper Katie Ronan.
Weathering that pressure proved crucial for the visitors as Lizzy Doherty extended their advantage five minutes after the restart, beating Chantelle Dow at full stretch with a well-measured lob.
With a 2-0 cushion, Olympic began to enjoy greater possession and territory but had Matalena Daniells’ effort ruled-out for offside.
The Yeronga side did manage to all but ice the contest inside the final 20 minutes when Japanese striker Miho Sugisawa struck a firm effort from the edge of the area to make it 3-0.
Daniells had another shot denied soon after, this time by ‘keeper Dow, while Ronan kept out Williams at the other end to preserve Olympic’s clean sheet and all three points.
Speaking after the match, Pride assistant coach Meshelle Ryan attributed the loss to a lack of cutting edge.
“I’m disappointed with the result but the girls played well. Credit to their goalkeeper, she came up with some good saves, but the shots just wouldn’t fall in the back of the net again for us,” Ryan said.
Olympic coach Phil Canham was relieved to come away with three points, acknowledging the quality of the opposition.
“I feel like Western Pride probably deserved to take something out of that. For us, we managed to take a few chances tonight and that was probably the key difference,” Canham said.
Listen to the full post match interviews below.
Western Pride FC Women 0
Olympic FC Women 3 (Demi ROBINS 6’ Lizzy DOHERTY 50’ Miho SUGISAWA 72’)
Comments
Comment Guidelines: The SportsTG Network is made up of players, families and passionate sports followers like you who have a strong opinion about sport. That's great - we want you to have your say and share your thoughts with the world. However, we have a few rules that you must follow to keep it fun for all. Please don't be rude, abusive, swear or vilify others. Apart from some pretty serious sport sanctions, we also can ban you and report you if things get out of hand. So play fair and have fun, and thanks for your contribution.