A lone goal in the first half condemns our Lions Women to a 1-0 defeat after a strong showing against Eastern Suburbs on the road.
It was a tough clash on the road against an in-form Eastern Suburbs outfit. Our Lions Women started on the front foot, crafting several early chances.
Anna Soulsby flicked the ball over her defender out wide before guiding a deep, outside-boot volleyed cross into the path of Abbey Lloyd on the edge of the box. Abbey controlled the ball with her thigh before directing a measured volley into the path of the keeper!
Scarlett Premerl did brilliantly to tackle an Easts defender from behind without committing a foul, cutting inside and forcing a save with her close-range attempt. The ball rebounded to Anna Soulsby, but she couldn’t hit the target as we continued to push.
Ten minutes before the break, and old friend came back to haunt us, and Tiarna Karambasis buried what would be the winning goal.
We entered the second half knowing we had an immense challenge on our hands. Our Lions Women continued to push, and on the hour-mark crafted one of our finest moves of the game. A long ball out to Scarlett, who played backwards to Amy Gunston on the left. Her pass found the run of Teagan Thompson, who cut the ball across the box for Evelyn Calhoon to fire at the bottom right corner. A diving save prevented the equaliser.
As we continued to fight for an avenue back into the game with time running out, Teagan Thompson was brought down inside the box and denied a spot-kick. With two minutes remaining, we thought we had found our way back. Tonia-Marie Rantucci sliced inside on the edge of the box, firing a shot across the keeper that was parried into the path of Anna Soulsby to slot home calmly.
Controversially, and completely unexpectedly, the equaliser was ruled out for an alleged offside, and the score remained 1-0.
A final push during stoppage time, but the hosts remained resolute, and our Lions Women were forced to accept a slender defeat in a well-fought and persistent performance on the road.
MATCH DETAILS:
NPL Women: Round 6
Eastern Suburbs 1 – 0 Lions FC
