Words: Matt Dorman
Image: Paul Smith/SWQ Thunder FC

Western Pride Women survived a second-half fightback from SWQ Thunder Women to claim a 3-2 victory at Commonwealth Oval on Sunday.

Trailing 3-0 at the break, Thunder fought back to within a goal but the visitors ultimately held on to notch their third win of the season.

Pride took control after an even opening to the match when Kara Mowbray struck twice in quick succession to hand her side a 2-0 lead after 30 minutes.

The Ipswich side extended their advantage when 17-year-old Lareena Meiklejohn tapped home following a goalmouth scramble to make it 3-0 at half-time.

Craig Burgess introduced striker Abbey Lloyd at the break and Thunder’s attacking intent paid immediate dividends as Elle Mollenhauer scored with a left-footed effort from the edge of the area.

Skipper Madison Franke then blasted home from long range in the 55^th minute to pull it back to 3-2 and inspire hope of a result for Thunder.

However, Pride were able to avoid conceding an equaliser as they moved four points clear of their opposition on the PlayStation® 4 NPL Queensland ladder.

Speaking after the match, Thunder’s Talitha Doro took positives from an improvement on their 7-0 loss in the same fixture earlier this season.

“We definitely all played a lot better as a team in the second half. I think we were passing to feet, better execution in every part of the field and we were just trying a lot harder,” Doro said.

Pride’s Kara Mowbray was pleased her contribution proved to be decisive.

“It was good to get a couple in the first half. I think we played well together as a team going forward,” she said.

Listen to the full post-match interviews below.

South West Queensland Thunder FC Women 2 (Elle MOLLENHAUER 48’ Madison FRANKE 55’)
Western Pride FC Women 3 (Kara MOWBRAY 31’, 33’ Lareena MEIKLEJOHN 40’)