16-year-old Indiana dos Santos puts Sky Blues on verge of another grand final
Sydney FC is just one home win away from reaching another A-League W grand final, yet this time it was thanks to two stars on the rise but the job isn’t done yet.
Teenage football prodigy Indiana dos Santos and rising Australian keeper Jada Whyman have put Sydney FC within striking distance of another A-League's Women’s grand final – with Melbourne City their likely opponent.
Sydney FC pulled off a 1-0 win over Central Coast Mariners in a physical clash which left captain Princess Ibini-Isei with a dislocated shoulder.
Melbourne City go into the second leg against Newcastle Jets with a 3-0.
It was 16-year-old dos Santos’ perfectly placed pass through to Mackenzie Hawkesby that resulted in the Sky Blues first goal against the Mariners.
It was a tough first half – particularly for the goalkeepers with Sydney FC firing off six shots and Central Coast 10.
Sky Blues keeper Jada Whyman was a stand out blocking all of Mariners five on target shots.
Ibini-Isei was involved in a tough but fair shoulder to shoulder tackle early in the half. She was seen clutching her shoulder but continued to play. It was revealed at halftime the striker had dislocated her shoulder and popped it back in herself on the field.
Team doctors didn’t want to risk further injury so substituted her off at half time with the scores locked at 0-0.
Central Coast tried to stage a comeback after Hawkesby goal but Whyman was determined to keep that ball out of the net – diving every which way.
Mariners captain Kyah Simon said they had plenty of chances but just struggled to convert them to points. But as they sit just one goal behind Simon is far from giving up on playing in the grand final.
“Anything can happen. We will go back to the drawing board and see what we can improve on and be fit and ready to go again next weekend,” Simon said post match.
Sydney FC’s Cortnee Vine said it was great to get a win after their disappointing 4-0 loss to Melbourne Victory in their final round game of the season.
“That’s a massive win for us,” Vine said.
“We had to get a bit of mongrel in us, you have to bring that into finals we’ve learned that the last few years, you can’t play pretty football, it got a bit scrappy.”
In the other semi-final, premiers Melbourne City escaped their semi-final clash with Newcastle Jets 3-0.
Daniela Galic got the first points on the board just five minutes in. It took Emina Ekic until the 61st minute to find the second with Shelby McMahon scoring soon after.
The match wasn’t as one sided as the scoreboard shows with Jets having nine shots on goal – the issue was their composure – just two were on target.
A RARE TASTE
A schedule change due to the Central Coast Mariners men’s team being stuck in transit from overseas pushed the Central Coast and Sydney FC game to the earlier kick off time of 3pm – giving them the TV spot on 10Bold.
It gave fans watching at home a taste of what it could be like if the women’s league was given the same treatment as the men’s competition on a weekly basis.
The broadcast included a pre-match show, sideline interviews with players, vision of inside the player’s change rooms and a half time show with player’s statistics and commentary.
It might sound like standard practice but those watching the Melbourne City and Newcastle game had a very different experience with no pre-game show, no sideline commentators, a single camera at the field and spent half time watching an empty field.
SECOND LEGS
This season is the first the APL has introduced double-legged semi-finals in the women’s competition. It comes on the back of the first full home and away season and an expanded competition with 12 teams.
It means both teams will face off again next weekend with the team with the best aggregate score from each game progressing through to the grand final.
Central Coast need to hold Sydney FC to nil and score two to progress to the final – while Jets will need to bag four and keep a clean sheet against premiers City.
Sydney FC will host Central Coast Mariners on Saturday at 3pm for the second leg of the semi-final. Melbourne City will take on Newcastle Jets at 1pm on Sunday.
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