Bulls FC Academy recorded a convincing 5-2 victory over Macarthur Rams in round 11 of the National Premier Leagues Women’s NSW competition.
The win confirms the rise of the Academy side, and to a certain degree the fall of the Rams, who have won the competition two years in a row.
However, the Bulls FC Academy have well and truly come into their own over the past month and will have felt confident in returning home to face a Macarthur Rams side that have been inconsistent this campaign.
For the Rams, this game will have been seen as an opportunity to build on their positive result last week, and a chance to disrupt the Bulls’ form.
The in-form Petria Phillips was at the heart of the Academy’s opener in the 21st minute, darting past her defender with a heavy touch into the box and seeing her squared ball intercepted before Amber Luchtmeijer arrived to bury the loose ball into the back of the net and give the Bulls a 1-0 lead.
Four minutes later Luchtmeijer showed real quality to set up her side’s second of the afternoon, taking on a through ball into the box and displaying quick-thinking to touch the ball onto Tamires Souza, who controlled the pass and finished superbly off of the post to make it 2-0.
A foul on the goal line during a corner led to the Rams finding a way back into the match close to halftime, with Tea Mucenski slotting the resultant spot kick into the bottom left corner in the 40th minute.
Barely a minute later and Mucenski almost had a double when Claire Corbett played a ball into the path of the Rams number nine, who was prevented by the back post from notching a double.
However, the goal would not have counted anyway with Mucenski ruled offside.
This did not deter the Rams however, who looked inspired toward the back end of the first half as they created another opportunity through Maya Lobo’s sensational pass that cut through the Bulls’ midfield and defence and gave Mucenski a chance to equalise, which the Rams striker did with aplomb after rounding Issabella Coelho and finishing into an empty net.
The sides headed to the dressing rooms locked up at 2-2.
Bulls were able to retake the lead in the second half via an own goal in the 51st minute.
Just seconds before the 90 minute mark Dos Santos smashed in a rebound for a 4-2 scoreline.
The Bulls then put the finishing touches on a dominant second half performance through Luchtmeijer, who bypassed Coelho and picked out Dos Santos to secure a brace for herself in extra time and a final score of 5-2.
