A second half hat-trick from Isabella Coco-Di Sipio helped the Bulls FC Academy thrash Sydney Olympic 4-1 at Northbridge Oval on the weekend
Bulls went to the halftime break 1-0 down, but sored four answered goals in the second half to make sure their place at the top of the NPLW ladder was secure for another week.
After a competitive first half of action, Olympic secured a penalty on the stroke of halftime when a header toward goal struck the arm of a Bulls defender.
The return to the match action brought the wet weather in the second half, with the Bulls also raining down on their opponents to score the first of their four goals in the 59th minute.
Three Bulls attackers caught out an Olympic defender in a dangerous position of the field and raced forward to set up Coco-Di Sipio for an emphatic finish to make it 1-1.
Two minutes later the Bulls were leading 2-1 when a deflection in midfield enabled them to storm forward to produce a superb sequence of play that concluded when Coco-Di Sipio calmly slotted in her second for the afternoon.
Olympic had a player sent off soon after and played the rest of the game with 10 players, while the Bulls were proving ruthless on the counterattack.
It was 3-1 in the 77th minute to the Bulls when Tamires Souza latched onto a loose ball at halfway to chip a pass through to Petria Phillips, who promptly cut in and out before squeezing the ball past the goalkeeper.
The final act saw Di-Sipio earn herself a hat-trick by running onto a through ball placed over the top of the Olympic backline, and pushing I into the back for the net.
In other NPLW news from Round 23, Macarthur Rams recorded a vital 3-0 win over Sydney University at Sydney Uni Football Ground.
A set-piece from close to the halfway line gave the Rams an opportunity to take the lead in the 29th minute with the rain pouring down at the Sydney Uni Football Ground.
Though the initial ball in fell just shy of the box, the Rams worked the ball superbly back into a dangerous area for Lola Sossai to eventually sneak in at the back post and bury the all into an empty net.
Tea Mucenski’s excellent run into the box created a fantastic opportunity for Libby Morris to add a second goal for her side in the 70th minute, however her strike rattled the bar and found its way back to Mucenski, who headed home from close range.
It was a brilliant second half performance from Mucenski, with the Rams’ No. 9 showcasing her array of skills in the build-up to earning herself a brace. After bypassing her defender on the edge of the box with a skillful turn, Mucenski calmly made space for herself before slipping the ball in at the near post.