It was a busy week both on and off the field in these two competitions.

With the mid-season split almost upon us, each result in the Grace Martin Trophy was crucial to see who keeps their spot in the top division.

Meanwhile, in the Bill Brackenbury Cup – it’s a tight contest to remain in the top four.

Grace Martin Trophy

There were forfeits left, right, and centre in the Grace Martin Trophy with the long weekend seeing depleted squad numbers for a number of teams in the top division.

Canterbury 0-3 Leichhardt Saints B

While this is officially a 3-0 win to Leichhardt Saints, realistically it was domination from the get-go for the Saints over Canterbury.

Jasmine Sergeant scored a hat-trick and Zoe Lindhout, Lilli Taranto, Ruby Bruce, and Jessica Cooper all scored first half goals while Canterbury got one through Jessica Kanaan.

Down 7-1 at half time and with a depleted squad, Canterbury forfeited in the second half.

Cooks River Titans 1-2 Russell Lea

Cooks River Titans came into this game able to field a full team for the first time in quite a while. Playing against a lowly Russell Lea, it was with surprise that the Titans were down early after a goal from Bridget Harrington.

Not to be disheartened, Cooks River continued to mount attacks and were rewarded when Kate Trebilcock was able to put the goal in the back of the net. It was a scrappy equaliser but all goals count the same!

Titans continued to attack but accuracy was a big problem, with only one goal scored with at least ten shots attempted.

Credit to Russell Lea, who never stopped playing and they got a winner with only three minutes to go: Lara Bates capitalising on a defensive error from Cooks River, leaving their goalkeeper out of position.

Russell Lea 1-10 Concord A

It was a clear sunny Sunday afternoon at Queen Elizabeth Park where the grass was dry and the wind was fast.

Russell Lea won the toss and decided to run against the breeze in the first half. The first 15 minutes of play saw most of the play in the Russell Lea half with both teams struggling to come to terms with the fast field and strong wind with ball out of play for a lot of the time in the early stages.

The scoring soon started though when Alyssa Wedd received a well-judged pass and slipped in behind the defence to slot the first goal of the afternoon for Concord.

Concord found a better feel for the conditions playing short passes through the Russell Lea midfield and defence with the two strikers, April Hunter and Alana Angelis, rewarded for the tight ball control with a goal each.

During one of their few forward forays, Russell Lea pushed a through ball behind the defence and short of the keeper with Lana Urquhart taking advantage to get Russell Lea onto the scoreboard: 3-1!

A reshuffle of the Concord line-up saw Chelsea Johnson playing up front and scoring three tidy goals before half time and another soon after.

Hunter grabbed her second goal in the second half while Wedd grabbed two more to complete her hat-trick.

Balmain A 1-4 Cooks River Titans

It was a double-header for the Cooks River Titans and after the disappointing loss to Russell Lea the day before, onlookers were interested to see how they would go against a Balmain side that got a rare good result the week prior.

The Titans got off to a fantastic start when some good connecting play led to a Claire Whitehouse goal in the opening 15 minutes, soon followed by a second goal to Belinda Seers.

The 2-0 score line didn’t last long, however, as some backfoot defending allowed Tasmin Goldsmith to half the deficit for Balmain.

Momentum was all for Cooks River though in the second half with some solid passing play and effective counter-attacks leading to a Kate Trebilcock goal, and a second to Seers.

Cook River’s fourth win of the season keeps them in the hunt for a top four position.

Concord B 2-2 Strathfield

It would be the first meeting of these two teams this season and it was a tight, edgy encounter where the dominance was shared with flashpoints of brilliance erupting sporadically.

Strathfield FC was the side that began brightly: dominating possession and rewarded by getting on the scoreboard first through as a header by Angelica Georgopoulos was saved and fumbled by Concord keeper, allowing Eleonora Kazantzis to pounce on the rebound and open the scoring.

With the game swinging from attack to defence Strathfield were desperate to hold onto their lead but, with persistence, Concord would equalise through Charlotte Trapnell.

The first half finished as exciting as it started when Alexandra Georgopoulos converted a penalty just before the break for Strathfield to take a one goal lead into the sheds.

The second half produced a game of end-to-end football with plenty of opportunities.

Concord were desperately seeking an equaliser and had to produce their best football as Strathfield were holding defensively and dangerous on the counter.

Once again, their persistence ultimately paid off when Trapnell got her second of the afternoon with both teams’ position on the table was reflected in the result with the points being shared.

Canterbury Juniors 0-3 Hurlstone Park Wanderers

Canterbury Juniors forfeited.

Leichhardt Saints B 3-0 Balmain B

Balmain B forfeited.

Leichhardt Saints 3-0 Enfield

Enfield forfeited.

Bill Brackenbury Cup

Hurlstone Park Wanderers kept their spot on top of the table while below them, teams tussled for positions.

Cooks River Titans 2-2 Marrickville

Marrickville continued their slow rise up the ladder with a well-earned point against Cook River Titans.

The Red Devils started slow and were fearing the worst after Andrew Theodorou and Furkan Rendeci put the Titans up 2-0 in the opening 20 minutes.

With the Titans seemingly in control, Marrickville got back into the game before half time with Rogan Sriram striking in the 35th minute before scoring the equaliser with only ten minutes left in the match.

Marrickville had the majority of possession in the second half and had to work hard to break down the desperate Titans defence.. Both team pushed hard for an equaliser but each had to settle for a point.

Inter Lions 4-0 APIA Leichhardt

Inter went into this match as heavy favourites and the tag was well deserved with a good team effort seeing a dominant victory.

Lions controlled the game from the opening whistle with the midfield trio of Reuben Lagos, Stephen Kayes, and Adam D'Appuzo setting the tempo.

Peter Vassilis scored the first goal in the 11th minute and from that moment on, APIA were never really in the match.

James Kovas, Nickolas Paradisi, and Adam D’Apuzzo scored the remainder of the goals in this convincing victory.

Enfield 4-2 LFC Sports

This was a big match with both teams equal on points and battling for a position in the top four with Enfield getting the perfect start when Anthony Foti converted a penalty early in only the second minute of the game.

Foti soon made it 2-0 after some good play down the left: cutting in to finish inside the near post.

Just as it looked like Enfield were going to run away with the match, LFC Sports turned it back into a contest when Francesco Giannetto scored two goals in seven minutes to bring the score to 2-2 in the 19th minute.

The frenetic start continued when Enfield retook the lead just nine minutes later when Marcelo Turdera scored from a corner.

Enfield’s win was sealed ten minutes into the second half when Turdera scored his second, with LFC Sports struggling to create chances from that point on in the match.

Burwood FC 0-10 Hurlstone Park Wanderers

Neither club was able to supply match information in time for publication.

Cooks River Titans 0-4 Hurlstone Park Wanderers

Neither club was able to supply match information in time for publication.

Feature image credit: Photographed with Love