The favourites to win their respective round 10 Steeline Limestone Coast Football Association Premiership Cup Senior Women’s games delivered last weekend, but one side had to fight harder than the others.

Women’s soccer newbies Naracoorte has showed an impressive rate of improvement throughout its debut season and continued its promising trajectory by pushing Apollo to the final whistle on Sunday.

Back in round 5 the pair fought a 0-0 stalemate, but this time the yellow and black scored the opening goal of the game.

Naracoorte captain Masoma Panahi rose to the occasion and her clean strike sent the visitors into the lead for the first time ever.

The early breakthrough put the hosts on the back foot and further inroads appeared likely as the yellow and black created more chances.

As the minutes ticked by, Apollo started to enjoy more possession and launched a fightback.

The home side found some momentum towards the end of the first half and Evie Thompson managed to break Naracoorte’s defenses.

Thompson’s key strike pushed her alongside captain Zoe Brooksby as the club’s leading goal-scorer this year, but more importantly levelled the scoreboard before half time.

Despite Apollo maintaining most of the possession, another draw appeared on the cards as the final whistle loomed.

With less than 10 minutes on the clock, the Apollo bench made an inspired move to bring young gun Rhianna Shelton onto the pitch.

Junior Shelton went on to not only settle quickly and perform some plays, but kicked the winning goal.

Her maiden goal at the senior level sealed Apollo’s vital 2-1 win, which gives the side a handy one-game buffer over Millicent in the race for the last finals position on the ladder.

Apollo coach Christopher Harris said Webb Street erupted when Shelton found the back of the net.

“We brought her (Rhianna) on with about eight minutes to go and she slotted the ball to get the win,” he said.

“She we completely shocked and all you could hear were car horns and clapping.

“We had been building and looking for this win, so we certainly enjoyed it.”

Harris said it was a hard-earned win after Naracoorte was an opposition which never went away.

“It was an all-round good game from both sides,” he said.

“Naracoorte did not give up, but our girls had the edge because we were a bit more disciplined.

“We moved the ball a bit better because the team was setup to promote chances up front, but it was all about getting that final touch.

“We just had to stick to the game plan and the girls backed themselves and came away with the win.”

The round kicked off with a Saturday afternoon doubleheader.

The big contest took place at Malseed Park where the Steeline Cup finalists faced off.

Blue Lake United carried confidence into the clash after knocking off Gambier Centrals 5-0 a month ago, but the Lions had some extra roar for the rematch.

The undefeated Blue Lake United outfit started impressively, but did not find scoring relatively easy.

However, the relentless pressure proved too much for Centrals’ defence and the home side enjoyed a 2-0 lead at the break.

The visitors stepped up a gear in the second half, inspired by their captain Kiah Connolly.

Connolly managed to put the Lions on the board, but the breakthrough could not launch her side to something special as Blue Lake United marched to another victory.

Lauren and Chelsea Frost once again created nightmares for defenders scoring three goals between them, while Centrals also conceded an own goal.

From the opening whistle International looked in control during its away fixture against Millicent.

The visitors forged a clear path towards the goals and created many chances, but struggled to find a way past determined defender Emma Lang.

Inter had a series of chances including multiple penalties in the opening stages, but could not reach the back of the net.

After 20 minutes of trying, the black and blue broke through thanks to Stephanie Gilbert.

Her goal opened the floodgates and scoreboard read 4-0 by half time.

Letitia Izzo salvaged some pride for the hosts, but nothing could stop Inter from cruising to a 7-1 victory.

Captain April Hockey led from the front with a hat-trick, while Gilbert and Tess Andrews scored two each.