Adelaide Comets were crowned WNPL/WSL Cup Winners at ServiceFM Stadium on Friday night, defeating a brave, Salisbury Inter side 1-0, thanks to a late extra time winner from former Inter players, Emily Heazlewood.
It’s not often that two of any competitions top sides split the results between them without a close game in sight. The WNPL & WSL Pre-Season Cup Final saw Salisbury Inter smash Adelaide Comets to the tune of five goals, before inflicting them their first defeat of the WNPL season with the scoreline ending at 4-2.
Since that league defeat, the Adelaide Comets went on an unbeaten run which culminated with the club’s first WNPL Premiership, defeating Inter by four goals in the process. After dispatching West Torrens Birkalla and Adelaide City in their respective Semi-Finals, Inter and Comets set up their fourth clash on the season, and with the tension a Cup Final always guarantees, it was sure to be the closest one yet.
Despite not playing to their full potential since sealing the Premiership a fortnight ago, the Adelaide Comets were keen to bring another piece of silverware to Ellis Park, and star striker Chrissy Panagaris had multiple chances to score within five minutes of referee Tom Brinkworth’s first whistle.
Tony Scalzi’s Inter side was happy to surrender the ball to the Comets and play on the counterattack, but the Premiers made the most of the situation by neutralising Haruna Sugihara in her attempts to link up play in midfield while forcing Matilda Comley into two acrobatic saves to deny Yuka Sasaki and Khal Adam Khan.
As the half wore on Inter grew into the game, but Tony Scalzi’s side could not find the final ball to trouble the Comets goals. The positive play was nearly thrown out of the window when Matilda Comley gifted the ball to Joanna Katsabis in the 35th minute, with Chantelle Ryder having to heroically get int the way of a Chrissy Panagaris shot to maintain parity.
Tom Monsigneur’s side had a chance to claim the lead on the cusp of half time, but Emily Heazlewood’s cross was blocked by the ever-present Chantelle Ryder to send the match to the break level.
A refreshed Inter side emerged from the half time break keen to put the dominant Comets under pressure. That plan worked early with Roxy Dodd causing miscommunication in the opposition backline and even smothering a Czechowicz clearance to make Comets fans nervy in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
It was not long until the Premiers resumed their dominance of proceedings, but the Inter co-captains Nicole Calder and Chantelle Ryder remained imperious in the centre of Salisbury’s defence to snuff out the Comets’ advances.
Both sides had opportunities to decide the game within 90 minutes, but Chrissy Panagaris hit the crossbar before being judged to have started in an offside position, while Jasmine Style could not place her long-range effort on target with two minutes to go after being set up by Roxy Dodd. Astoundingly, after scoring a combined 15 goals in their three encounters in 2023, the two sides entered extra time scoreless.
Minutes after extra time kicked off Panagaris had another chance to bury the game, but Matilda Comley thwarted the forward’s advances in the box. Comley nearly went from hero to villain after clearing the ball to the feet of Ally Ladas whose shot chipped the goalkeeper but was cleared before reaching the goal line.
A valiant effort by Inter made it easy to forget that they did not have a shot on target after 90 minutes, but that changed in the 100th minute when Mina Nishatani’s effort was comfortably saved by Czechowicz as the match entered the half time break of the extra time period.
A tense second half of extra time seemed to be leading to penalties just under a week after the Matildas were involved in their own dramatic shootout, but former Salisbury Inter player Emily Heazlewood had the final say, breaking her former side’s collective hearts in the process.
Heazlewood received the ball on the wing, and after her attempted cross was rebounded back to her feet, the winger cut into her left foot and her low shot curled into Comley’s bottom corner to spark wild celebration for the Premiers.
Salisbury Inter side had hang onto the game through their defensive effort was powerless when it was required to find a goal with seven minutes to go. A confident Adelaide Comets side held on to claim their second piece of silverware for the season, and they will be entering the WNPL SA Finals Series hoping to replicate the treble-winning feats off Salisbury Inter and West Adelaide in recent years.
WNPL/WSL Cup Final 2023
Salisbury Inter 0-1 Adelaide Comets
Emily Heazlewood '113
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Earlier in the day, 5 other winners were crowned in the Women's Community and Junior Girls Cup Finals. Congratulations to all the winners.
U13 Cup Final | Adelaide University 1-0 Fulham United
U15 Cup Final | Seaford Rangers 0-3 Adelaide University
U17 Cup Final | Flinders United 1-1 Adelaide University (2-3P)
Div 1/2/3 Cup Final | Seymour Old Collegians 0-1 Pembroke Old Scholars
Div 4/5 Cup Final | Hahndorf 1-1 Sacred Heart Old Collegians (4-5 pens)