Lions FC 0
The Gap FC 8 (Petterwood 3′, 14′, 18′, 62′; Blackburn 7′, Bodey 58′; Miller 66′, 85′)
HT 0-4
Lions slumped to their heaviest defeat of the season as The Gap virtually settle this top of the table contest inside the first 20 minutes with striker Tiarne Petterwood grabbing a hat trick in just 15 first half minutes.
Petterwood put the visitors in front in the 3rd minute with a deft header past Ellen Hepburn in the Lions goal following Charlotte Bohl’s cross.
The lead was doubled in the 7th minute when Lions failed to deal with a corner and Gap’s lanky midfielder Ruth Blackburn headed in from 8 yards out.
Another corner on the quarter hour mark yielded identical reward for the Gators with Petterwood finding the back of the net for her second of the night and the Gap striker grabbed her hat trick on 18 minutes, latching onto Zali Eason-Coutts cross into the box, to all but secure the points for the Gators with not even a quarter of the game played.
Lions struggled to deal with the NPLW league leaders and only mustered a couple of first half chances. Lana Harch firing over when getting onto the end of a Tegan Riding cross and a short time later, the assistant referee’s flag denying Kate Morton a goal with Georgia Chapman adjudged to have been offside in the build up.
With the half running out, Gap almost made it five on the stroke of half time. Greta Bodey played through on goal but under pressure from a chasing Lions defender, she placed her effort wide of the upright.
The second half started more brightly for the hosts with Jess Hogg forcing a good save from Gap keeper Noran Abaza but it wasn’t long before the visitors further extended their lead.
Blackburn making her way to the goal line before driving a low ball across the face of goal, evading Hepburn with Bodey running in for an easy tap in.
Top scorer Petterwood further added to her tally with the best move of the game. A patient but fluid build up from midfield worked the ball out to Tiffany Dibley who delivered a delightful cross to the edge of the six yard box for Petterwood to head past Hepburn with the Lions stopper stranded and Gators’ substitute Sarah Miller got on to the scoresheet midway through the half with a fine effort to make it 7-0.
Lions kept going but were restricted to long range efforts. Rebekah Horsey chancing her arm from 20 yards out with a shot that narrowly went wide.
An error from Abaza moments later whilst attempting to play out from the back, gifted the ball to Mikaela Disavia on the edge of the box but she could only direct her effort straight back to the Gap keeper.
The scoring was completed 5 minutes from the end with Miller put through and from the left edge of the box, guiding her shot past the reach of Hepburn and into the far corner of the goal.
It was a convincing performance from The Gap who were confirmed as premiers following defeat for Souths Utd away at Mitchelton.
The Lionesses will return to the training field as they look to cement second spot on the table as they work towards the finals series.
An away trip to Western Pride next weekend provides an opportunity to rekindle some of the form that had seen them compete for the title until this defeat.
Joe’s Comment:
“The first 20 minutes we conceded four soft goal with two from corners and I guess when your 4-0 down 20 minutes in, heads drop and it’s a big challenge from there. The girls responded well for the next 20-25 minutes and we could have had a late goal at the end of the half which would have made a difference going into the dressing sheds but at the end of the day, those four goals pretty much buried us.”
“We’ll look at the positives and work on the negatives and come back again next week.”
Team line-ups:
Lions FC:
Hepburn (gk), Chapman, Morton, Horsey, Riley, Riding, Stanley, Harch, Kenman, Hogg, Stephen.
Subs: Evetts, Schiavo, Disavia, Dale (rgk).
The Gap FC:
Abaza (gk), Doro, Eason-Coutts, Bohl, Dillon, Abbott, Petterwood, Bodey, Blackburn, Doherty, Dibley.
Subs: Butler, McLennan, Miller, Sunderland L., Sunderland T. (rgk).
