Brilliant Balcatta turn it up to 11
Round-up by Tommy Doleman
Emma Ylias heads in Curtin University's equaliser against Northern Redbacks. Photo by FotoEnzo
Balcatta turned on the style on Sunday afternoon as they recorded an 11-0 win over bottom side Subiaco.
Christiane Astorp scored four goals and Caitlin Doeglas bagged three as Balcatta moved up to third and in the process received a healthy boost to their goal difference.
The visitors got off to a flyer with two quickfire goals from Astorp putting them in control. The first was a deflected free-kick which sneaked past Marissa Pidgeon, the second was when she followed in to score from Doeglas' initial shot.
It went from bad to worse for Subiaco who lost skipper and goalkeeper Pidgeon to injury soon after. Balcatta quickly capitalised upon the unrest at the back as Ashleigh Panaia scored brilliantly from long-range.
Astorp and Doeglas linked up again to put a fourth goal past the hosts before the latter completed a first-half double with a curling shot from range which deceived reserve stopper Annaleisha Pickering.
Subiaco put together a nice passing move early in the second half as Kanon Uchiyama, Halle Williams and Siobhan Mullooly combined to release Amelia Andrew, whose shot fizzed just over Gabbie Dal Busco's crossbar.
But Balcatta did not hold up as they went on to reach double figures amid torrential rain at Rosalie Park.
Monique Godding made it six with her first goal of the season before Astorp and Doeglas both completed their trebles by the 66th minute to make the score 8-0.
Astorp then scored her fourth with 17 minutes to play as she picked up the ball in the centre of midfield before driving forward and executing a brilliant lob over Pickering which found the top corner.
Panaia became the third multiple goalscorer of the afternoon when she volleyed home a corner before Kimberly McCartney's first of the season made it 11-0, as Balcatta laid down a marker ahead of their clash with leaders MUM FC next weekend.
Curtin University are still waiting for their first win of 2020 but registered a fourth draw of the season with a credible 1-1 result away at Northern Redbacks.
The visitors are now three unbeaten with this point and they started confidently at Kingsway Reserve when Nina Boorman fired over inside two minutes.
Renee Leota headed high and wide when presented with a good cross from Katie Moth as Redbacks tried to get a foothold in the game.
Curtin had the best chances before the break though as Boorman had a pop at goal from 25 yards and was denied by a super save from Maya Diedrichsen who tipped onto the bar.
Moth then had to defend having ventured forward earlier when she blocked Abbie Selormey's shot behind for a corner after finding herself through on goal.
Redbacks came out firing after the break as Sarah Carroll and Lauren Continibali were denied by an excellent double save from Stacey Cavill.
The breakthrough was made on 74 minutes though when substitute Aster Mulu's cross was partially cleared with skipper Carla Bennett swivelling and volleying in her second goal of the season.
Curtin hit back eight minutes later though when Boorman's free kick was met by the head of Emma Ylias, who netted a timely first goal of the season.
And they nearly won their first game of the season late on when Boorman's set-piece from a similar position was glanced over by Megan Connop, as both teams had to settle for the draw.
Leaders Murdoch University Melville dropped points for the first time since the opening weekend of the season as they were held to a goalless draw by Fremantle City.
Gemma Craine volleyed wide from outside the area after five minutes with City looking fresh following their postponed fixture with Balcatta last week.
The joint-Gold Medal winner of 2019 tried her luck from distance again 10 minutes later, but her curler did not have the dip required to test Danielle Cornish.
Mikayla Lyons was then through on goal for Fremantle, who were playing their home game on the Murdoch Synthetic, but her shot was straight at Cornish.
The league's leading scorer Kat Jukic had MUM FC's first sniff of goal when she drove from distance and forced Dayle Schroeder into a sharp save down low.
The second half was much tighter but Craine had the two best opportunities of finding a late winner.
She volleyed wide from Jamie Lee Gale's cross before cutting inside from the left and firing narrowly past the post as City ended MUM FC's run of six consecutive NPLWA Women’s league wins.
A healthy crowd attended Albany's Centennial Stadium for the NPL Men's and Women's double-header which headlined the Great Southern Regional Festival of Football.
The women's fixture was played out between top-four hopefuls Hyundai NTC and Perth SC and it was the Azzurri who prevailed 2-1 down south.
All the goals were scored in the first period as two goals from Liana Cook moved Perth back up to second place on the NPLW WA table, and closed the gap on leaders MUM FC to three points after their draw on Sunday.
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