Words: Matt Dorman
Image: Patrick Kearney/Olympic FC

Olympic FC Women maintained their perfect home record with a 7-0 win over Souths United Women at Goodwin Park on Saturday night.

Souths were able to compete early before the hosts broke clear with four first-half goals to make it five straight victories at their Yeronga home.

The first chance arrived in the 3^rd minute when Ai Matsuzaki breezed into the area but Jessica McLean, scorer of last week’s late winner against UQFC, screwed her shot wide under pressure.

While the visitors had their moments on the counter, Olympic were doing the bulk of the pressing and opened the scoring in the 25^th minute.

Amber Maxwell showed little signs of rust in her first match of the season with a calm finish to make it 1-0.

The hosts doubled their advantage six minutes later as a corner found its way through bodies to reach Matsuzaki, who poked home her sixth goal of the season.

It was 3-0 in the 39^th minute when, from outside the area, Allira Toby opened her body and stroked a fine finish inside the bottom far corner.

McLean then capped a productive 20-minute period by making it 4-0 at the break with a cool finish from Lizzy Doherty’s long-range through ball.

Megan Byriel made a five save from McLean’s well-struck effort shortly after the restart but couldn’t prevent a fifth in the 56^th minute as Doherty expertly speared a shot into the bottom corner.

Byriel, despite denying Maxwell at close-range, was beaten again seven minutes later courtesy of McLean’s top-shelf shot that went in off the post.

The away side’s night soured further with a pair of injuries midway through the second stanza although they did show resilience to hold firm for the remaining half hour.

However, Doherty did find time in the dying moments to power the goal of the match past Byriel from long-range to complete the 7-0 scoreline.

Speaking after the match, Olympic coach Phil Canham commended the returning Amber Maxwell.

"She's still obviously underdone but it's great to have a player of that quality come back and nice for us to know she can still have an influence on the competition," Canham said.

Souths coach Byron Hellmuth hoped his side could carry aspects of their performance into a winnable match against Moreton Bay United Women next week.

"I hope so. If we can extend on that 25 minutes we played, play that for 90 minutes, we will be more than competitive with every team in this competition," Hellmuth said.

Listen to the full post match interviews below.

Olympic FC Women 7 (Amber MAXWELL 25’ Ai MATSUZAKI 31’ Allira TOBY 38’ Jessica McLEAN 42’, 62’ Lizzy DOHERTY 56’, 90’+2)
Souths United FC Women 0