Words: Michael Flynn

A second half scoring spree has seen Olympic FC Women end Gold Coast City Women’s finals hopes with a 6-1 result at Duncan McKenna Field.

The sides were locked nil-all at half-time before the visitors turned on the class with three goals before the hour through Natalie Tathem, Kirsten Jamieson and Lorena Maggio.

Allira Toby then netted twice in five minutes to wrap up the points before debutant Taleisha Derick added Olympic’s final goal from the penalty spot.

City’s sole offering came in the final ten minutes when Jayde Lowe struck a consolation for the hosts.

The result means fourth-placed Olympic are now just a single win away from securing their maiden appearance in the PlayStation 4 NPL Queensland Women’s Finals Series.

City remain in sixth place in the standings, however last year’s Grand Finalists find now themselves a distant 15 points shy of the top four with just three matches remaining.

Key Moments

51’ – GOAL FOR OLYMPIC – Kirsten Jamieson delivers a neat back heel to Natalie Tathem and she makes no mistake with the finish past the onrushing City goalkeeper Ellen Hepburn

55’ – GOAL FOR OLYMPIC – Allira Toby hits a pin-point cutback pass to Jamieson, who tucks it home from ten yards with a first-time finish

57’ – GOAL FOR OLYMPIC – Toby again with the assist as this time she cuts back for Lorena Maggio to smash home the finish from 15 yards out

66’ – GOAL FOR OLYMPIC – Elizabeth Doherty releases Toby with a clever ball over the top of the City defence before Toby slots the one-on-one finish past Hepburn

71’ – GOAL FOR OLYMPIC – Toby again wins a penalty after City defender Jamilla Riley clips her ankle, allowing the Olympic attacker to deliver her second with the ensuing spot-kick

78’ – GOAL FOR OLYMPIC – City’s Claire Farrington’s attempted chest down sees the referee spot a handball and this time its debutant Taleisha Derick that converts the penalty for her first PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues Women’s goal

84’ – GOAL FOR CITY – Jayde Lowe delivers the hosts a late consolation after meeting Georgia Elliston’s cross with a text book header that sneaks under the crossbar

What They Said

“I said from day one it’s been a development year and we’ve been learning. We’ve had a few tough lessons but the girls have learned a lot and we will keep building. We didn’t kid ourselves that we would be in the top three. For the remaining games we will look to reward the players that have been putting in the effort throughout the year but keep enjoying our football and see if we can keep on improving.“ – Dave Thompson, Gold Coast City FC Women coach

“When you look at our performance – all those goals came in the second half. It was a bit of an eye opener for all of us because in this competition nobody is going to give you anything. You’ve got to continue to work. We haven’t made the finals of the NPL before, so we can’t take anything for granted. We may be only one win away but we know we have to continue to work. Our goal isn’t to make the finals, it’s to make an impact in the finals.“ – Phil Canham, Olympic FC Women coach

Match Details

PlayStation 4 National Premier Leagues Women’s 2016 – Round 12 (rescheduled)

Wednesday, July 27
Duncan McKenna Field, Gold Coast

Gold Coast City FC Women – 1 (Jayde LOWE’)
Olympic FC Women – 6 (Natalie TATHEM 51’, Kirsten JAMIESON 55’, Lorena MAGGIO 57’, Allira TOBY 66’ p.71’, Taleisha DERICK p.78’)

Match Centre – http://bit.ly/2aJYzkk