WPL Round 20 - Sandringham vs. Ashburton
Ashburton had to be satisfied with a nil-all draw today against a physical Sandringham outfit. Despite the physicality of the game this was essentially a lackluster game with few, if any highlights. The first half was played with a strong wind favoring Sandringham and the play was consequently mostly in the Sandy attacking half. The only real chance for the home side occurred at the 34 minute mark when the ball spilled over the line following what looked like a charge on the Ashy goalkeeper Antoinette Michail. The resultant corner was easily cleared by the Ashburton defence. In the first half it was clear that the Sandringham tactic was to use their physical strength to counteract the normally free flowing  Ashburton passing game. Many of the Sandringham challenges seemed to be outside of the rules of the game but were not picked up by the match referee.
In the second half Ashburton lifted its game and Rosey Mortellaro controlled the midfield and created chance upon chance for the Ashburton forwards who could simply could not buy a goal. During this period Rosey won no less than 5 free kicks in the Ashburton forward line, however these were ably cleared by the Sandringham defence who were working overtime, with Peta Horman especially effective in goal. Despite controlling possession, having significantly more scoring shots and corners Ashburton would seem to have be unlucky in not coming away with the 3 points. There is no doubt that the Ashburton team missed Annabelle Gibney, Seyma Erenli and Kristin Stensholt who have left to take up soccer opportunities in the USA.

Meanwhile in other matches Ashburton's Premier League reserves side lost its first game in three years to Sandringham, while the unbeaten U18 side easily accounted for Croydon City Arrows 11:0 despite fielding only 9 players for most of the game. The State League Division 3 S/E team accounted for South Melbourne 4:3, hopefully saving then from relegation. Ashburton's State  League Division 2 S/E team lost to Beaumaris 2:0.

Photos of today's WPL matches are here:

Reserves
Seniors