This matchup of two of the leading teams in the competition lived up to expectation as both sides battled out a hard fought 1-1 draw.
After Brittany Ring put the Eagles ahead in the first half, Sinead Bailey restored deserved parity late in the game for the Sharks.
Chances were flowing early as both teams were determined to play attacking football. As early as the second minute, Ainsley Hawes played a pass to Emily Franklin who cut inside and powered a shot to the near post which was well saved by Megan Blanch.
On 10 minutes, Brittany Ring used her pace to put herself through on goal as she dissected the Woonona defence. Ring managed to round goalkeeper Ivana Peric however her shot to an open goal found the wrong side of the post in what was an early warning sign for the Sharks.
Just two minutes later, Ring made amends. She managed to find some space inside the box as she cut inside the defender and curled a shot that hit the underside of the crossbar and was adjudged to have bounced over the line before Peric collected the ball. The Eagles hitting the lead early in the game.
Nikita Woods fired a shot from the edge of the box not long after however, Blanch got down well to save.
On 19 minutes, Peric cleared a long ball from just inside her penalty area however it feel straight to Sarah Alwert whose long range shot was on target however Peric redeemed herself by throwing her legs at the ball and deflecting it away for a corner.
From the resulting corner, Ring had a free header from close range that went over the bar.
Franklin was a nuisance to the Eagles defence and on 36 minutes, she once again managed to cut across the box before unleashing a shot that once again forced Blanch into a flying save.
Both sides with good chances in the first half but it was Blanch that proved the difference as she fended off another save off a Franklin shot just before the break.
Five minutes after the restart, Woonona had a golden chance after Franklin did ever so well to get around her defender from the wing and put in a wonderful ball across the goal for Woods who struck the cross bar from close range.
The Eagles went down the other end and almost grabbed a second after some neat link up work which eventually saw Meg Jones push her shot just wide of the post.
The Sharks were dominating the second half and it appeared just a matter of time before they got one back.
On 57 minutes, Sharmini Chauhan put in a pin point cross that saw Franklin volley a thunderous shot towards goal however Blanch was a rock in the Eagles goal making an outstanding save.
On 65 minutes, Woods played a neat ball to Jordan Wheatley whose cross from the by line just alluded Chauhan who was free on the far post.
Just two minutes later, Ring went on a darting run and crossed the ball which was only partially cleared with Alwert’s shot smothered by Peric with a last ditch save.
On 73 minutes, a long ball deep into Eagles penalty area saw some confusion with the Eagles deference that saw several players all collide simultaneously. The ball fell nicely to Sinead Bailey who smashed it home into an unguarded net to finally and deservedly so level the game.
Try as they might, there were very few chances thereafter with both sides forced to settle for a point each.
For the Eagles, that is their third draw from five games whilst the Sharks maintain their unbeaten start to the season as they sit a point behind the league leaders.
Report by Bobby Mazevski
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