Albion Park overcame an early scare at Cromer Park to thump Beacon Hill 6-1 in the semi final of the Champion of Champions. Star striker Brittany Ring bagged a hattrick in the victory which sees Park needing one more win to claim back-to-back perfect seasons.

 

Beacon Hill 1 (Adalis 2’) Albion Park (Ring 11’, 26’, 81’, Glisic 18’, Mcgartland 45’, Crowe 90’)

 

The rundown -

 

The home side had scored 17 goals in their previous two Champion of Champions matches and it took them less than two minutes to find their 18th of the competition. Beacon Hill were awarded a free kick 25 metres out which Ayse Adalis blasted home.

 

The early goal stunned Albion Park and they struggled to get out of their own half for the first 10 minutes of the match. It only took one piece of smart play for the title holders to get into their grove with an 11th-minute goal kick-starting three goals in 15 minutes.

 

Brittany Ring was involved in all three with the first finding the bottom left corner and the third finding the bottom right. The one in the middle was well taken by Kristina Glisic who buried the ball into the far left side netting.

 

Hill had a couple of chances late in the half, both from set pieces but they couldn’t make them count - unlike Park who scored from a set piece right on half-time with Rylee Mcgartland finishing off Michelle Foscarini’s free kick.

 

The visitors dominated possession in the second period of play but they were unable to carve out many clear-cut chances. In the 79th minute, Aleisha Chessell made a strong close-range save off Jess Wootton and her follow up effort was cleared on the line by Claire Duffy.

 

Moments later the game was put to bed with Ring picking up her third with a pinpoint chip over Amy Scott and with seconds left Renee Crowe broke downfield to score Park’s sixth goal of the match.

 

Goals -

 

2’ Adalis (1-0) - Ayse Adalis lined up a free kick from 25 metres out and her forceful drive couldn’t be kept out by Aleisha Chessell.

 

11’ Ring (1-1) - A nice piece of link-up play saw Renee Crowe slide Brittany Ring through on goal and she tucked the ball into the bottom left corner.

 

18’ Glisic (1-2) - Rylee Mcgartland won the ball high up the park and she laid it off to Ring who played Kristina Glisic into the right of the area. The Park number 14 blasted the ball across Amy Scott and found the inside of the left side netting.

 

26’ Ring (1-3) - Mcgartland lobbed the ball over the Hill backline for Ring to run on to. The striker jinked away from the closest defender before burying the ball into the bottom right corner.

 

45’ Mcgartland (1-4) - Michelle Foscarini whipped in a free kick from the left wing, Mcgartland lunged at the ball from close range and directed it into the back of the net.

 

81’ Ring (1-5) - Maddison Angel pressured the Beacon Hill backline into an error which saw the ball break to an unmarked Ring who lobbed the ball over the goalkeeper to round out her hattrick.

 

90’ Crowe (1-6) - Seconds before the full-time whistle Albion Park broke away through Crowe who held off her marker before slotting the ball past Scott.

 

Post-match interviews -

 

Richard Davis

 

“It was a good game today, the girls turned up, wanted to play and didn’t give the other team much of an opportunity after the first 10 minutes where they were on top.

 

“After that the girls just dominated, they pushed the ball around, Brittany Ring up front doing what she does best which is scoring goals and talking. The defence was great today, Tenaya Davis, Michell Foscarini, Jess [Hanly], [Nicole McCracken] and Claire [Duffy] - all the girls done their job.

 

"Our fitness, our strength and our fighting spirit was there and I am very happy about that

 

“We have a bit of a look at how the other teams go but at the end of the day, it is about what you do when you turn up to the game. One more game to go, we have had a big season so we want to continue to do that, so we will be focussed,” Davis said.

 

Brittany Ring

 

“I don’t think the scoreline reflects how close that game actually was, we were asleep the first 15 minutes and we conceded in the first five minutes but we hung in there and took our chances which is what a lot of teams don’t do but we certainly did.

 

“[My performance] wasn’t too bad. I get the service from the girls in the midfield, my job is to finish off their good work and thankfully I could do that today and hopefully I can keep doing it.

 

“It was very hot out there today. Considering we had a game on Monday night too, it’s been a big week - it’s been a big eight months because we have been going since February so it was tough but there’s one more [game],” Ring said.

 

Beacon Hill FC - Ayse ADALIS, Lauren WEATHERLEY, Nina HALL, Hannah KEELER, Samantha LEE, Naomi PETERSON, Aorianna SUSSANNA, Loredana VESCIO, Annelise ALLAN, Ayle BLAKEMAN, Biana HOWARTH, Rebecca KOOPMAN, Hilary PAGE, Amy SCOTT, Bethany SWEENY, Jess WOOTTON

 

Yellow Cards -

 

Albion Park SC - Aleisha CHESSELL, Phillipa ROBINSON, Claire DUFFY, Nicole MCCRACKEN, Renee CROWE, Michelle FOSCARINI, Casey-Leigh SUTTLE, Tenaya DAVIS, Linda HILLARD, Brittany RING, Jessica HANLY, Kristina GLISIC, Rylee MCGARTLAND, Maddison ANGEL, Liandra Gaylamangu

 

Yellow Card - Ring

 

Sunday, 14 October 2018

Cromer Park, Cromer

Beacon Hill FC vs Albion Park SC

 

Report and photo by Dylan Arvela, on Twitter @dylanarvela