U15 GIRLS THROUGH TO GRAND FINAL IN THRILLER

11 September 2017

It was a warm Sunday afternoon for our U15 Parramatta girls at Lambert Park yesterday. A later than usual 1pm kick off and the synthetic pitch made playing conditions uncomfortable.

The Minor Premiers, Western NSW Mariners, were a formidable opposition, having been one of only 2 sides to take all 3 points from us this season. They are a physical team with some brilliant individuals and always have a very strong start to a match.

Early on it was obvious the heat was going to be an issue for both sides.Parramatta coach Andrew Vicary made some early interchanges as we were not maintaining possession for long spells in the opening exchanges. The Mariners had the better of the chances early and would have opened the scoring but for our desperate defence and brilliant goalkeeping from Keely Segavcic. The best opportunity to breach our goal in the first half came from a 19 yard free kick which shaved the crossbar.

The hard work of Charlotte Schonhagen and Brooke Hastie in the midfield brought us a reward 7 minutes from half-time, as a long range free kick from Brooke took a deflection and found the net. 1-nil Parramatta.

The score remained that way at half time and well into the second half. Both sides were tiring in the second half and the Mariners had the better share of the possession, creating a number of opportunities which were often shut down by our last defender. A lapse in concentration from a very well executed corner gave the Mariners the equaliser they were chasing with 5 minutes remaining in the match. Mariners went hard after the win in the remaining few minutes and it was clear they were using long balls in the final minutes - to no evail. Full time 1-1.

No one was looking forward to the 20 minutes of added time and a goal was needed by either team if a penalty shootout was to be avoided. Early in the first period of extra time, we produced some fast build up from the back and were able to some pressure on the Mariners left hand defence creating an opportunity. Tiana Anderson held the ball up for a perfectly timed pass to put Radae Mohammadi just clear of some desperate defence. Despite some attention, Radea provided an elegant finish and pushed the ball past a diving Mariners keeper.

The much needed goal brought some changes to bolster our defence to close out the match 2-1 after extra time.

Our girls now join our Minor Premiership winning and very successful U17s team in the Grand Final next Sunday! Both Parramatta teams will be looking for your support again this week as they play UNSW for the opportunity to be 2017 Champions, in what is certain to be a very exciting day for Parramatta FC.

U17 GIRLS THROUGH TO GRAND FINAL

A 28 degree Sunday and the U17 Parramatta girls venture out to Lambert Park for a 2.45pm kick off. The synthetic pitch there is nice but added to the heat issue.

Our opponents were the University of NSW who we had only recently broken a long series of draws against (with a win!). They are a strong team who play the game in the right spirit and we always enjoy playing against them.

Whilst the heat was an obvious issue, we were confident our fitness would hold up. The girls had frequently doubled up in reserve grade this year and their work ethic at training put them in great shape. We even tried to look upon the heat as a plus!

Parramatta started well and it was soon clear that Uni were using long through balls much more than they normally did. This did not pose a great threat and Parra took an early lead through Ellen Berios burying a cross from Taylah Nicholls. Half time was approaching and our concentration faded to gift a goal back to Uni.1-1 at the break.

The second half saw Parra again take the lead with Sarah Bernard dribbling into the box and then testing the strength of the Uni net. The Parra girls were desperate in defense throughout the half and frequently made lung busting runs to be track back and support. Fitness holding up! 

Ellen then applied pressure in their penalty box to win a shoulder contest and dispatch a curling cross to the far corner of the uni goal. 3-1! Things became tight towards the end with a soft goal conceded and Uni are back in it at 3-2.

A great effort from the Parra girls over a gallant and skilled opponents. Grand Final... here we come!

PARRAMATTA FC COACHING POSITIONS 2018