WPL Round 22 - Ashburton vs Box Hill
WPL Round 22 - Ashburton vs Box Hill
Box Hill finished off the last round of the WPL with a 2:1 victory over Ashburton. The win sees Box Hill win the minor premiership with Ashburton 8 points behind in second place. In the Reserves, a 1-all draw secured the premiership for Ashburton who finished 2 points clear of Box Hill.
Despite fielding a very inexperienced side, Ashburton put up a reasonable effort in the muddy conditions at Ashburton Park on Sunday. Ashburton certainly had chances to score more than one goal, with the first coming at the 10 minute mark when Box Hill and Matilda keeper Melissa Barbieri came off her line to defend an attack, but the ball spilled out of her grasp into the path of Ashburton striker Kelly Sandefur, who just missed the undefended goal to the left. 15 minutes later Louisa Bisby got free of her Ashburton opponent and set up a superb pass to enable Amanda Lawless a clear shot at goal which proved unstoppable. Late in the first half Ashburton looked like equalising when Lisel Woods crossed to Paola Bernini who struck the ball well but wide of the Box Hill goal. At this stage Box Hill had the edge in possession, but had few real scoring opportunities. The Ashburton midfield, sans Rosey Mortelaro, was performing well and Rosie Bureta was keeping the dangerous Bisby in check. Lisel Woods was causing Box Hill a few problems out on the left, often getting into space and setting up attacking moves.
The second half started well for Ashy with a goal in the first 5 minutes. Gulcan Koca ran the ball down the right wing, outpacing her tenacious opponent and crossed the ball to Kelly Sandefur who deftly slotted the ball between Barbieri's legs and into the back of the net. The rest of the half was a real arm wrestle with both sides seeking the winning goal. At one stage there was an amazing scramble in the Ashburton goal, with at least 5 short range shots deflected and finally cleared by the Ashy defence. Following this, play was stopped as Ashburton suffered another season ending injury with Danielle Jackson receiving a broken nose the result of a misguided Box Hill elbow. Jackson's absence saw a shift in the balance of the game and at the 65 minute mark Box Hill received a free kick 30 metres out. Bisby took the free which was initially dealt with, but somehow the ball spilled out into the clear and Tal Karp made no mistake with her clinical strike. With Box Hill one up Ashburton should have dug deep to try and equalise, but in reality the last goal gave Box Hill a lift and they subsequently had 2 genuine shots at goal through Genia Avram.

Photos of the game are here.