Power Shock Easts In First Semi-Final
Words: Matt Dorman
Peninsula Power Women set the PlayStation® 4 NPL Queensland Women’s Finals Series alight with a 3-1 upset of Eastern Suburbs Women at Heath Park on Saturday night.
Brittany Whitfield scored twice to eliminate the regular season’s third-placed side and send Power to within two matches of the Grand Final.
The visitors began in dream fashion when Brieanna Watt fired home from the edge of the area to open the scoring inside 10 minutes.
Having become the sixth and final qualifier for the post-season, Power further illustrated their danger by making it 2-0 midway through the half.
Brittany Whitfield this time unleashed from outside the area for her 24th and most important goal of the campaign.
However, Easts hit back just two minutes later as Hatzirodos exchanged passes with Susie McKeen and added the finish to breathe life into the contest.
Power retained their 2-1 lead at the break and had the crossbar to thank for keeping out Tegan Riding’s effort shortly after the restart.
Emma Pittman almost pulled the home side level with around 15 minutes remaining, only to have her goal-bound shot cleared by Nathalie Browne.
Whitfield instead ensured there would be no comeback by breaking through for a one-on-one and hitting the sealer into the top corner to settle the first Elimination Semi-Final at 3-1.
While Power are set to meet either UQFC Women or Sunshine Coast Women in another knockout match next weekend, Easts' season concludes after finishing just one point shy of top spot.
Speaking after the match, Easts coach Garrath McPherson reflected positively on his team’s season.
“I leave very happy tonight. I think (it was) 30 seconds of disappointment at the final whistle for most of the players but they know what they’ve achieved and we don’t need to play next week to be happy with what we’ve done,” McPherson said.
Power coach Gary Ellis paid tribute to his team’s defence as the cornerstone of victory.
“We worked really hard in that area and we only conceded one goal today. We built our win on that and we knew we had the strike power up front to score goals,” Ellis said.
Eastern Suburbs FC Women 1 (Michaela HATZIRODOS 24’)
Peninsula Power FC Women 3 (Brieanna WATT 8’ Brittany WHITFIELD 22’, 85’)
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