Blacktown City 1 Gladesville Ravens 7
The return of women’s football to Landen Stadium ahead of the 2024 NPL2 season gave the new-look Blacktown City Under 20s a chance to pit their wits against a young team from the division above. It was visitors Gladesville Ravens who mastered the bounce and gave the home team a lot to think about in terms of fitness, physicality and finishing, but as Tony Gustavsson is quick to point out, it’s not the result that counts on days like these. Pre-season is underway and football is back. Time to rejoice!
The completion of the previous game at 5pm gave both teams a rare opportunity to warm up on the playing surface ahead of this encounter, and by 6pm the players were lined up and ready to go on this sticky humid day in Lalor Park. Both teams were fielding a host of new signings, and this first run out for the season was designed to see where work needs to be done in pre-season to develop a winning formula.
City would need to deal with the burgeoning talent of Angie Le Roux on the Ravens’ right and she was straight into the action, flashing a cross across goal, where goalkeeper Chloe Somboli made a fantastic save to deflect the ball wide to prevent an early goal. The wind had whipped up in the home team’s favour, but this was going to provide little advantage. Midfield general Sienna Bell was leading the way with her energy, and the first chance for the home side came as Hayley Reynolds was played through by Aurelia Smith, but her shot was drilled into the side netting.
City battled well, and when defender Katherine Spooner-Smith was caught out by a spinning ball, Abby Duggan was there to clear up. Le Roux continued to be the danger, and she raced on to a ball over the top to win a corner, and a further cross caused mayhem in the City box but the home team survived. Ravens were almost architects of their own downfall soon after Niamh Nolan had hassled the Ravens’ defence into a rushed clearance, and Bell stole the ball on the right to feed Reynolds whose shot was blocked.
The opening goal was devastatingly simple – Angelina Zaiter slipped in Le Roux, who fizzed in a cross for the unmarked Monique Lekkas to thump home at the far post. City rallied, and had a series of corners, none of which made an impression, Duggan then siezed control and romped through the Ravens midfield but overran the ball before she could get the shot away. At the other end, Le Roux’s cross was parried well by Somboli and Maya Jones couldn’t find the finish.
Just after the half-hour, Ravens doubled their lead. A weak clearance from the City defence fell invitingly for the incoming Claudia Vincent, who smashed home a shot to give Somboli no chance. The game was going to the script, and City were picked apart again when Le Roux’s cross was cleared and Alexia Karas drilled in a low shot to make it three. The difference was the finishing.
Bell played in Emily Jackson, who was clean through, but the offside flag halted her in her tracks. Sam Cole spectacularly upended Le Roux to show her teammates the way, and the half ended with Bell pickpocketing her defender to advance on goal, but the shot was wide. City had created chances, Ravens had created more, but the conversion was much more clinical from the visitors and the half-time score was a fair reflection of the way the first half had unfolded.
Echoing Sven-Goran Eriksson’s tactic for England when losing to the Socceroos in 2003, a whole new team emerged for the second half as City looked to change the complexion of the game. Any impetus that was planned from that change was halted immediately as new Ravens signing Beatrice Power launched a stinging shot from distance that flew into the net past new goalkeeper Ash McIntyre. That was tough on City, who then had to weather a storm as the clouds converged on Landen Stadium. The bustling Billie Letsios then played in Ishbel Collins but the City defence scrambled well, and Collins had a great chance when played clean through but McIntyre saved well with her legs and the score remained at 4-0 for the Ravens.
City were being forced back continually, and Annabelle Gerard did well to concede a corner when surrounded by Ravens players, facing her goal with a bouncing ball. An hour had passed and City were yet to put any meaningful attacks together in the second half when disaster struck. A ball was smashed into the area and screams of handball resulted in the referee pointing immediately to the spot. VAR was not called upon. Up stepped Letsios to send McIntyre the wrong way for fifth Ravens goal.
City, to their credit, began to get some traction in the Ravens half, exciting wing play on both sides of the field giving the Ravens defence plenty to do. But they still had to contend with the Ravens attack and after surviving a glorious chance a moment earlier, their luck ran out. Letsios was given way too much room in the middle of the penalty area, her shot wasn’t as clean as she liked, but the ball bounced off the post as time stood still, and deflected off the leg of the unfortunate McIntyre and into the net for a freak sixth goal.
In adversity it is often the time when the true colours of a team come shining through, and City never gave up on their priniciples and formation. The moment the home fans had been waiting for lit up the stadium as the gloom descended and the thunder rumbled in the distance. Izzy Saunders received the ball on the left-hand side. She had it all to do, but set off on a powerful run that took her around her defender, and as the goalkeeper advanced, she dinked an exquisite ball over the outstretched hand and into the net, wheeling away in delight at what may have only been a consolation goal, but was a very tidy move and finish to lighten the mood.
Time was ticking away and the skies were looking ominous. There was time for one more Christmas cracker from Beatrice Power to thrill the crowd, her shot from distance finding the top corner to complete the scoring and blow the scoreline out to 7-1. With the rain starting to fall and the rumbles and flashes getting closer, the referee conferred with his assistant and decided that the final three minutes would be abandonned and the final whistle brought an absorbing pre-season encounter to a close.
What had Blacktown City learned from this pre-season encounter? The main takeaway will be the need for belief, with many players hustled off the ball by a faster, more direct and aggressive player; fitness will also be high on the agenda in the new year. On the flipside, the players looked like a team and tried to stick to a game plan even in the face of fierce pressure. The future is bright for both clubs, Blacktown City looking to make waves in League One, while the Ravens hoping to establish themselves as a force in the top flight of Women’s NPL football. Bring on the new season!
Thanks for reading. This news feed has taken a new direction, and this game was the ideal transition from Gladesville Ravens to Blacktown City. Thanks to everyone at the Ravens over the years for contributing to and consuming the weekly wrap, and good luck for the 2024 season. We now turn our attention to Blacktown, and what will hopefully be a beautiful story during the next 10 months or so of NPL Under 20s football. Have a browse around this website to see what this is all about, and stay tuned for more. If you’re a camera whiz, share some photos and we’ll put them in each week – most games will be under lights, so conditions will be challenging!