Illawarra Stingrays fight back with dominant victory over Sydney Olympic

The 4-0 win came on the back of a difficult period for the Stingrays, with the team's last victory coming back in May. Chipperfield, however, remained confident his squad would turn things around and start a climb back up the ladder.

"It was a much needed three points," Chipperfield said. "The last three games, we had two draws and a loss, so it's good to be back in the winner's circle. The way we did it against a second-placed Olympic side was very pleasing.

"We knew it was an important game, the last few weeks we had some players missing. It wasn't really a form slump, we just had bodies missing. Sunday was the strongest team we've had on the pitch all season.

"If we've got our full team on the pitch, we can beat anyone. If we keep this team together, hopefully we'll have a good run into the finals."

The Stingrays blew their opponents away from the opening whistle, with Hannah Beard scoring in the 11th minute to lay the foundation for a comfortable win.

A penalty to Michelle Carney saw the Stingrays lead 2-0 at the break, before Beard scored her second and Kaelah Austin added the team's fourth to close out a dominant performance.

"We played some good footy and dominated the game from the start. One goal was a penalty, but the other three were team goals. That's pleasing, they weren't scrappy goals, they were well-constructed team goals.

"At 2-0 at halftime, we knew Olympic would come at us in the second half. We kept pushing for the third and once we got the third, we got the fourth. We didn't give them a chance to get back in the game."

The win moves the Stingrays into outright fourth position on the table, one point back from Olympic, who fell from second to third, and three points clear of Macarthur and Blacktown, in fifth and sixth respectively.

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The team's efforts to climb into the top two will continue next weekend when they travel north to face a Bankstown team likely to feature former Wollongong student Mary Fowler upon her return from World Cup duties.

"We've got Bankstown next week," Chipperfield said. "They have the Fowler sisters, Mary will be back for that game, and she'll be keen with a point to prove against us after the World Cup.

"Then we have four home games against teams sitting above us, which gives us a good chance for us to try to get top two or even top spot."

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