The new-look Grace Martin Trophy is now confirmed as the top six teams remain in the league, while the bottom six sides create the AAW Division 2 competition.

In the end, it came down to a single win with Hurlstone Park Wanderers finishing in sixth place: three points ahead of Cooks River Titans.

The Wanderers are joined by both Concord teams, both Leichhardt Saints teams, and Strathfield FC in the remainder of the Grace Martin Trophy season.

Each team will play each other once more, before a top four finals series will decide the 2022 champion.

Cooks River Titans, Russel Lea, both Balmain DFC teams, Canterbury Juniors, and Enfield will depart the Grace Martin Trophy to form the AAW 02 competition.

Balmain B 2-12 Concord A

It was a clear Wednesday evening at Callan Park waterfront. The grass was dry and fast and the large field seemed to disappear into the shadows of the towering fig trees lining the North Eastern side of the ground.

It was a fast midfield contest with both teams eager to win the ball and press forward aggressively. It was Concord at the 10 minute point who scored after a penetrating play down the right hand flank: well finished by Lauren Angelis.

Five minutes later Alyssa Wedd scored again for Concord, but they would not have it all their own way. Balmain broke away down the right and side and with a great run down the sideline ending with a cross which found Holly Davine on the far post. The score was 2-1 and suddenly it was game on.

From that point forward though, Concord found their rhythm pressing strongly and scoring at regular intervals for the remainder of the match.

Angelis finished with four goals, Wedd scored a hat-trick, and Chelsey Johnson scored twice. Mieka Figg, Sophia Galletta and Veronica Fania all scored a single goal, while Elise Crimmins got the second for Balmain DFC.

Concord A 1-1 Concord B

The pride of Concord was at stake for the derby between the two Concord teams in the Grace Martin Trophy. With a long history of rivalry in various competitions, both teams knew the task ahead would be a tough one, with the game giving Concord B the chance to prove that they are serious contenders in the top division.

Stifled by injuries, Covid, and transport issues, Concord B started the game with nine players as the crowd gathered in anticipation.

Concord A took control early, moving the ball from centre field to the wings swiftly opening up the play, leading to several opportunities with all shots at goal unsuccessful. This play was contrasted by Concord’s B style who looked to counter-attack at every opportunity and turn defence into attack.

This was the case in the 34th minute when Arzu Tasdemir of Concord B artfully pinched the ball off an attacker and quickly chipped the ball over the Concord A defence to find a darting run in behind the defence made by Charlotte Trapnell.

Trapnell controlled the ball with a deft touch, beat two defenders and with her blistering pace found herself in the 18 yard box with only the keeper to beat, slotting the ball past the goal keeper to take Concord B into the lead.

The second half continued in similar fashion to the first with Concord A getting plenty of shots in, each opportunity thwarted by the excellent Rebecca Eldridge in goal, and Concord B transitioning from broken play to attack at every opportunity.

At the 60th minute, a goal bound shot by Concord A was met by Eldridge, who soared like an eagle to make the save, however to her dismay the ball bounced back off the cross bar with Chelsey Johnson winning the race to the rebound: equalising for Concord A.

The rest of the second half did not disappoint the spectators as both the Concord teams maintained the intensity, with further chances at goal being created but not rewarded.

Strathfield FC 5-1 Leichhardt Saints B

Strathfield Park came alive with a first-time meeting between these two teams with a veteran of the Strathfield team providing the heroics with a convincing hat trick.

It was a stirring performance by Rachelle Sotirio that provided an early goal and she continued to score and create chances throughout the entire 90 minutes.

Inspired by their teammate, Strathfield stamped their dominance early and set out to take control. Leichhardt Saints were not going to be undone so soon came back with repeated counter-attacks only to be consistently denied by the Strathfield defence and goalkeeper.

Going into the break down only 1-0, Leichhardt looked to seek redemption early in the second half and opened the stanza with several chances that went unconverted: Strathfield holding on before Sotirio grabbed her second goal to double the lead.

The match continued to be a tight contest, but Strathfield again scored the next goal with Sarah Tsoumbris giving her team some security with a 3-0 buffer, only for Siobhan Musgrave to grab the next goal for Saints: bringing it back to 3-1 with 20 minutes to go.

Not to be outdone, Sotirio scored her third goal only one minute later, with Amelia Xiberras sealing the victory in the 88th minute.

The win catapults Strathfield FC into third place on the table for the first time this season.

Balmain B 5-1 Balmain A

It started as a glorious winter evening in the Balmain derby but as the darkness descended, so did the rain: resulting in very trying conditions the longer the game went on.

Balmain A started the strongest with three early attacks putting the pressure on before finally converting in the tenth minute. A fantastic through ball from Maisie Tanner found Elise Crimmins who slotted the ball into the bottom left corner.

Crimmins didn’t take long to double the team’s advantage when a fortunate deflection saw her shot two minutes later find the back of the net.

Good play from both sides kept the crowd entertained for the rest of the half, with chances falling to both sides. Just before the break, it was Balmain A who got on the scoresheet after a rash challenge from Ellen Vass saw a penalty awarded.

Isabella Bogati converted the spot kick to make it a very competitive 2-1 score going into the sheds.

But the game changed almost instantly in the second half with Balmain B scoring twice in two minutes: Holly Davine tapping in a rebound after Crimmins’ shot his the post, before Crimmins got her hat-trick form outside the box only five minutes after half time.

From there, Balmain B were never going to lose, with Davine scoring her second goal just before full time to seal a 5-1 victory.

Enfield 1-3 Canterbury Juniors

It was the last game for both these teams before the league gets split and it was a tight and highly competitive game.

Enfield dominated play in the first half with right and left backs Kayla Posovac and Louise Castro putting in excellent performances to stifle the Canterbury wingers.

Enfield took the lead after the Canterbury keeper was unable to keep hold of a long shot from Evi Vulgaris to make it 1-0 going into the break.

The second half started in the similar fashion to the first with both teams competing well. Three quick fire goals in five mins from Canterbury’s Jessica Kanaan flipped the game on its head and they were able to hold on for the 3-1 victory.

Hurlstone Park Wanderers 3-0 Russell Lea

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

Cooks River Titans 0-2 Leichhardt Saints A

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

Feature image credit: Photographed with Love