Match Report

A muggy 'summer' night for the young Italo Stars 2nd division women's team led to a great spectacle for those lucky enough to be there. Goonellabah Hornets, playing the girls for the second time in a row and fighting for a spot in the Grand Final of McMillan Cup, came out particularly strong on the ball. Not to be made a fool of again the Hornets made a concerted effort to keep last weeks Player of the Match Kendelle O'Reilly marked out of the game, to little avail.

Opening the scoring in the 53rd minute the Hornets striker would prove an exceptionally tough opponent all night long. Stars struck back less than ten minutes later when a foul on Cara Brice resulted in a free kick, taken by Amete Baume. A brilliant shot topped the Gbah wall and curled into the far corner of the net to equalize, and lifted the girls spirits. 

Late in the second half Stars gained a 2-1 lead when a well placed ball from Cara Brice to attacking midfielder Olivia Collins resulted in the most impressive goal of the night, from right midfield well into the upper left corner of the net, with a strong controlled kick. To their credit Gbah seemed to find new reserves of energy and determination as the game went on and their striker again managed to break through the Stars defence for another strong finish only minutes from full time. Stars girls goal keeper Kelsey McSweeney once again provided some excellent saves as well as controlling the defensive line all night, and had her work cut out for her. 

At 2-2 full time the game went to twenty minutes overtime. The girls were buoyed by some very vocal Stars fans, and the excitement of a night game on their home turf. Some excellent passing and possession led to a breakdown in the Hornets defence and Amete Baume was able to put a tremendous kick past the keeper from the left wing. At 3-2 the tide of the game had turned and Stars, not to rest on a single goal differential went on full attack, with two more goals from Lily Evans, and Rachael Guest in short succession, to finish out 5-2 after extra time.

Young Riley McIntyre earned player of the match for her relentless defence, and the endurance and speed to outpace and strip the ball from a much older and very competent striker over 110 minutes of play. Equal player of the match honors went to Amete Baume whose energy and determination in midfield contributed to our control of the game, along with her brace.  

Having said that the result was a truly coordinated team effort by all fifteen girls on the roster for the night. 

Team: (GK) Kelsey McSweeney, Riley McIntyre, Holly Doyle, Sacha Walker, Olivia Riley, Amete Baume, Olivia Collins, Kendelle O'Reilly, Rachael Guest, Lily Evans, Cara Brice, Erin Blaylock, Lucie Mills, Megan McGuiness, Cassie Wilcox. 

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