Goals either side of halt-time maintained the Tigers’ unbeaten start to the State League Women’s competition, but the Mariners girls weren’t without their chances.

Salomoni watched on as Western botched an equaliser attempt late in the opening term after APIA was forced to clear and the Mariners were unable to scramble the ball home.

That came after the Western girls rattled the crossbar from a free kick that APIA failed to clear.

Then, mid-way through the second half, the Mariners continued to pose a threat on the break as Kristy Collingridge cut inside and booted a shot at goal, one that ultimately sailed well held by the APIA goalkeeper.

With goal-scoring opportunities at a premium due to the high press tactics of both sides, that sort of execution, or a lack there of, was always going to hurt.

On the flip side, the Tigers girls didn’t have such issues.

Goals to Lucy Gilfedder and Maddie Latham in the 17^th and 63^rd minutes respectively issued the Leichhardt outfit with its eighth result in as many rounds to start the 2017 premiership.

In the end, APIA had more of the late running and was probably unlucky not to extend the two-goal advantage the club enjoyed as a final outcome.

Still, Salomoni believes with a touch more polish at the attacking end of the field her side is capable of running with the best sides in the competition.

“I think we were pretty good, we had our chances we were just a bit unlucky. We played really well, I though watching,” she said.

“We’ve had a few shots that haven’t quite gone in, but I thought we played well last week. We strung some good passes together.”

The injured star – who is working her way back into game time with 10 minutes this weekend, predicting a full-blown return to the field by the start of the third round – says Teegan Kourtney shone for the Mariners girls in a tough loss.

Salomoni’s confident Western can bounce back as the Mariners’ youth continue to develop.

“I think so, we’ve got a very young side with a few of the younger girls coming up, so get a few more games under their belts a bit more confidence up their sleeve they’ll go really well,” Salomoni said.

APIA coach Matteo Maiorana admitted it was “not a great performance, but the Mariners are always a tough team”, while Western’s Jason Payne was overall pleased with the effort of his team.