Rivals share spoils in a six-goal nail-biter
IT was billed as the biggest clash of the women’s FNQ Premier League, as Edge Hill United and Leichhardt faced off in the first to be played as the main event game in a prime time Saturday night timeslot in years.
There were two undefeated records at stake, a 3-3 draw in their most recent meeting, and the chance for either side to take a step towards becoming league champions.
But there was one minute of game time which summed up the battle between the two women’s football powerhouses who proved why this game deserved the prime time slot.
With the scores locked at 2-2 midway through the second half, Leichhardt youngster Louise Fowler found Stacey Ghietti with a perfect free kick.
The Lions captain headed home, and the team celebrating what could have been the match winner.
From the restart, Edge Hill pushed up the field with a bit of tempo and, when play resumed after a short stoppage, the Tigers found Canadian
Olivia Gables on the right edge, who fired home arguably the strike of the year into the top left corner to lock up the scores again. The score remained 3-3 until the final whistle, but that minute had everything.
Rival coaches Glen Waddingham and Angelo Caravella rode every emotion.
Caravella’s euphoric celebration as his side grabbed the short-lived lead contrasted with the Edge Hill United bench’s explosion when Gables’ strike found the net.
For Edge Hill United coach Waddingham, the late equaliser was the result of a closeknit team driven to succeed.
“They just drive each other,” Waddingham said shortly after fulltime.
“It’s one of those things they say to each other, ‘We do not stop until the final whistle’.
“They’ve proven that time and time again. We did it here against Mareeba, we did it last time we played Leichhardt, and we’ve done it again tonight.
“It’s the character of the girls. They’re just a group that really bond together and the teams that do that get their reward.”
Caravella was impressed by Gables’ strike, but couldn’t mask his disappointment as the Lions had to settle for yet another high-scoring draw — the fourth time this season they’ve been forced to share the points.
“I can’t say I wasn’t disappointed, but saying that, my ladies were in that right until the end, and they were challenging to win that game,” he said.
“Both teams were, but I felt we were really putting the pressure on them.
“It wasn’t the result we wanted. We wanted to win.
“But the positives we take out is that we’ve come from behind twice to take a lead and against quality opposition.”
Leichhardt's Cristian Couto Calderon.