Phoenix topple top squad Denmark
Phoenix have proved the giant killers, eliminating Denmark from the women’s premier cup competition in the first week of knockout games in the Great Southern Soccer Association last week.
Denmark, who went through this year’s league season without being beaten, were chasing a third straight title and a fourth in five years in the top women’s cup competition.
In a game that will be hard to rival for the remainder of the cup, Denmark’s golden run came to an end in a gripping penalty shootout last Friday night.
Phoenix were up for the fight and after 90 tough minutes of normal time, the two sides could not be separated as a 2-2 score line sent the elimination final into extra time.
Neither side were able to break the deadlock in extra time, as a penalty shootout would ultimately decide who progressed to the semifinals.
Phoenix showed great composure under pressure as they claimed a thrilling penalty shootout 7-6 over the daunting Denmark outfit.
Denmark won 16 straight games in the league competition and they lost no admirers in the cup, part of an terrific contest that went the journey.
Phoenix move to the semifinals, where they will face Polonia for a berth in the cup decider.
In what proved to be an outstanding night of women’s cup action, Port Albany also earned a semifinal place with a tense 5-4 win over Caledonians.
Caledonians led 4-1 at half-time and appeared to be cruising into the next round, only for Port Albany to produce a superb final 45 minutes as they netted four goals.
The result set up a semifinal with Royals tomorrow night, with the winner through to the cup final on September 20.
In the elimination round of the men’s reserves cup on Saturday afternoon, defending champions Caledonians made a swift exit as they fell 2-1 to Polonia.
Goals from Cole McKee and Cyprian Rogozinski helped Polonia into the semifinals, with the sole goal of the last 45 minutes breaking a 1-1 half-time deadlock.
League champions Albany-Bayswater are through to the cup final, as their 4-2 win over Phoenix paved the way for direct transfer into the decider.
In the men’s reserves format, Caledonians will now tackle Royals, who skipped the first round, for the remaining cup final berth.
The men’s social/vets cup began with quarterfinals on Tuesday night, following their last round of league matches the previous week.
Old Boys completed the perfect season, winning all 16 games to finish 14 points clear of their nearest rivals The Vets.
The final standings in the women’s social league are sorted as Denmark White won the title, edging out Grammar Blue by four points.
In the women’s reserves cup, both Mt Barker United and Rovers secured 1-0 wins to move into the next round.
Denmark meet Rovers and Polonia are opposed to Mt Barker United in the semifinals on Friday night.
The men’s Federation Cup begins this Saturday evening, with Phoenix clashing with Rovers and arch rivals Polonia taking on Caledonians.
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