Belconnen United FC 12 (Bomford 7’, 49’, Backhouse 10’, 13’, 23’, Price 24’, Yuen 27’, 59’, 82’, Carnegie 37’, Ryan 73’, McGlashan 87’) v Wagga City Wanderers FC 0

The Blue Devils took no prisoners at AIS this weekend. They are back in the leaders seat on the table, with an improved goal difference.

It was a tough day at the office for Sam Gray and his Wanderers, missing a few players when they travelled from the Riverina on Saturday. Belconnen United started the game all guns blazing and the 7^th minute, Olivia Bomford scored her first of the day, with a left footed shot from the edge of the box.

The Talia Backhouse show then started, with the striker recording a hat trick between the 10^th and the 23^rd minute. The first goal was a strike from short range that landed under the crossbar. The second goal, on a corner kick, saw the Blue Devils lining up in a “caterpillar” fashion at the edge of the box. Backhouse’s run was perfectly timed to allow her to head the ball in from point blank. The third goal was a copy and paste, with the corner kick coming from the other side.

Seconds after the following kick off, Samantha Price intercepted a pass in the Wanderers defence and left Sam Emms no chance in their duel. Reilly Yuen scored a screamer two minutes later, with a powerful shot from the edge of the box that left Emms no chance. The last goal in the first half came from the captain on the day, Leah Carneggie. Wearing the Belconnen’s armband for the first time, Carneggie scored a free kick from long range that surprised Emms when it took a dive under the crossbar, in the top left corner.

The Blue Devils started the second half on the same rhythm, Bomford scoring her second goal less than five minutes after being back on the field. Following skilful work by Sarah Johnston, Bomford received the ball at the edge of the box, and this time used her right foot to swerve the ball out of reach for Emms. Ten minutes later, Price’s perfect through ball in behind the defence found Yuen, who scored her second goal from close range.

With 15 minutes left to play, Vanessa Ryan took advantage of a scramble in the box to tap the ball in and make it 10-0. Yuen’s hat-trick was complete at the 82^nd minute, dribbling a defender in the box before picking the bottom left corner. The last goal of the day was scored by Cassia McGlashan with three minutes left, on corner kick again.

With this emphatic win, Belconnen are in the driving seat before Canberra Croatia faces Gungahlin midweek. Next week, the Blue Devils will face Canberra United Academy. Wagga City will travel back to the capital to play against the one team they beat twice already this year, Tuggeranong United.

 

West Canberra Wanderers FC 1 (Chaverra 54’) v Canberra Olympic FC 2 (Sykes 10’, 20’)

It was an important win for Nicole Begg and her Olympic squad against a direct competitor for the finals. They take the third place, two points ahead of West Canberra after Sunday’s game.

On Melrose Synthetic, both teams started with a high intensity, but Olympic took the full measure of their opponents early on. They got their reward ten minutes in, when Courtney Halse’s corner kick found Ashleigh Sykes, who just had to head it in. Olympic kept putting pressure on Janet King’s goals, and a superb ball through by Heather Garriock found Sykes in the back of the defence. Olympic’s most prolific goal scorer faced King and drove the ball around her before tapping it in the empty nets. The first half kept going Olympic’s way, but the Wanderers dense defence, and their crossbar, were on the way of a third goal for the visitors.

The second half started on the same rhythm, with Olympic playing forward and West Canberra waiting patiently and operating on counter attacks. The Wanderers found their way back in the contest after eight minutes. Following a corner kick by former Academy player Tara Cannon, Sofia Chaverra fought for the ball in a forest of Olympic legs and found a way to kick the ball in Aurelia Haynes’ nets. The tide turned, and the Wanderers started developing better football offensively.

Unfortunately for them, the lack of execution in the last two passes meant they rarely posed a problem for the Olympic defence. The game remained quite open until the end, both teams creating real opportunities to score a decisive fourth goal, but the score at the end stayed 2-1.

Olympic climbs on the podium with the three points, a week before hosting Gungahlin at home, for another chance to put a contender away. West Canberra will face the champions Canberra Croatia, with the need to get a result to ensure the other teams are not getting away in the race for top four.

 

Gungahlin United FC 8 (J. Brown 2’, Robertson 7’, 22’, Aitolu 28’, 59’ (p), Perceval 69’, Heyman 78’, E. Brown 88’) v Tuggeranong United FC 0

Gungahlin needed a win to stay in touch with the top 5, and they got it, while looking after their goal difference, against bottom of the table Tuggeranong on Sunday.

The Gunners started the game the perfect way, with Jade Brown scoring less than 100 seconds after kick-off. Found by Ayla Robertson in the box, the young forward chipped the ball over young goalkeeper Amy Wiggan from close range. The second goal of the day came minutes later, with Robertson now the scorer, after a scramble in the box following a corner kick. Robertson found the back of the net a second time just after 20 minutes. She slalomed through the Tuggies defence and found the bottom right corner with her right foot. Tuggeranong resisted well, mainly thanks to Wiggan, who prevented Michelle Heyman from scoring a few goals in the first half. Unfortunately, she could not help Elke Aitolu from scoring a point blank header just before the half hour mark. Wiggan was “guilty” of few more extraordinary saves in that first half, fighting for every ball despite being four goals down. The keeper was starting for the second time this season, and both her games were against Gungahlin, who will undoubtedly remember her.

The second half started with both teams battling in the midfield. Despite the score, Tuggeranong gave a good account of themselves. As usual this season unfortunately, they would lose on details, small mistakes and period of lack of focus. Luck was not going their way either. At the hour mark, following a corner kick, the ball bounced on one of her defenders’ hand, offering Elke Aitolu the chance to score her second goal on the day, on penalty. The Gunners’ number 9 did not let the chance pass and picked the left side net to make it 5-0. Madeleine Perceval added her name to the scoresheet ten minutes later, thanks to a point-blank header following another corner kick. Heyman finally found the way to beat Wiggan with 12 minutes left to play. Ella Brown’s cut back pass found the Julie Dolan winner inches away from the goal line, and Heyman would not miss from there. The last goal of the afternoon was a repeat of that sequence with inverted role, Heyman offering the goal to Ella Brown.

Tuggeranong is still after their first win of the season, and their best chance might be hosting Wagga City, the team in front of them on the table, this weekend. Gungahlin will have two tough games this week, on Wednesday against Canberra Croatia, and this weekend, a crucial game in O’Connor, against an Olympic team that sits four points ahead on the table.

 

Canberra Croatia FC 4 (Gill 21’, 37’, Nikias og. 26’, Hagen 83’) v Canberra United Academy 0

Third time is the charm for Canberra Croatia, who finally beat the Academy after a draw and a loss earlier this season. Nik Brozinic’s squad are now the only team to win against every NPLW team in 2021.

On a decent Deakin stadium pitch despite the rain of the past few days, the home side knew what to expect early on, given the Academy had struck first, and as early as the third minute last time. Brozinic’s troops were fully focused from the get-go this time. Without pressing too high, Canberra Croatia was still aggressive enough in the midfield area to interrupt any attempt at building the play for the Academy. It would be a long day at the office for Canberra United Academy, who, as expected, still defended vigorously, with Eliza-Jane Norris a standout, holding her own against Brittany Palombi for her NPLW debut. The round of observation passed, Canberra Croatia started pushing forward, Grace Gill forcing Chloe Lincoln to a spectacular horizontal to save a powerful attempt from outside the box. Gill simply needed to adjust her aim, and just after the 20^th minute, she did not let her one-on-one opportunity pass. After a couple of aerials controls by Krista Hagen, Gill inherited the ball in the box, and wrong-footed Lincoln from short range. Five minutes later, the same duel was in play, and this time Lincoln won it, only to see the ball she deflected bouncing on Steph Nikias and ending in her own nets.

Up 2-0, the home side did not change their game plan. The Academy barely reached Ally Hinson’s area in that first half. At the other end of the pitch, Gill scored her second goal of the day with a perfectly weighed volley at the reception of Alice Churchill’s cross. With a 3-goal advantage at half time, the home side managed the second half perfectly. Jamie Berkeley, Jenny Bissett and Krista Hagen kept dominating in the midfield, and the back four were quick to cut and clear any ball coming their way. Vicki Linton’s troops would only be dangerous on a couple of occasions in that second half, but Hinson never needed to force her talents. The visitors received the final blow with minutes left on the clock, when Hagen, following a scramble in the box, executed an acrobatic volley to score her 5^th goal this season and securing a comfortable win.

Canberra Croatia are levelling back with Belconnen with these three points, still behind at the goal difference but with a game in hand, which will be played this Wednesday night against Gungahlin. The week will be busy for the Deakin side, who will also face West Canberra this weekend. In the meantime, the Academy will try and bounce back against the other team at the top of the ladder, the Blue Devils.