Gungahlin United 9 (Darby Whiteley 2’, Ashleigh Palombi 44’, 45’, 56’, 62’, Alex Paterson 55’, Najwa Allen 76’, 77’, Own Goal 87’)def. Canberra Olympic 2 (Siena Senatore 46’, Kirsten Hurt 59’)

Gungahlin United kept pace with Canberra FC in second as four goals from Ashleigh Palombi helped them to a 9-2 thumping of Canberra Olympic on Sunday.

It took only two minutes for Gungahlin to get on the board through Darby Whitely, and it looked early on that this would not be a repeat of United’s narrow win in their last meeting with Olympic where they were pushed all the way. However Olympic pushed back and responded well, holding out under the weight of a strong Gungahlin attack.

But they could only hold out for so long, and copped a sucker punch just before the break as Ashleigh Palombi hammered home a two-minute brace to turn a one-goal half time deficit for the visitors into a troubling 3-0 scoreline. 

The visitors started the second half in a positive fashion though as Siena Senatore pulled a goal back only a minute in, but it was small comfort as Palombi and then Alex Paterson both added goals in a two-minute period. Kirsten Hurt again reduced the score line by one for the visitors, but Palombi added her fourth as the clock ticked over the hour mark of the match. 

United continued to put on the pressure though, and Najwa Allen put in a quick fire brace in two minutes with just over ten minutes to go, before an own goal three minutes from time rounded out the scoring for Gungahlin.

 

Belconnen United 1 (Nicole Jalocha 44’) def. Canberra FC 0

Belconnen United claimed their seventh straight Premiership thanks to Nicole Jalocha’s goal on the stroke of half-time getting them across the line against Canberra FC.

Full report here.

 

Woden-Weston 4 (Lotta Raap 22’, Ella Brown 31’, Cassia McGlashan 80’, Madeleine Paull 84’)def. Monaro Panthers 1 (Alicia Meuronen 37’)

Woden-Weston secured their first ever finals appearance with a convincing win against Monaro at Woden Park.

The hosts took the initiative early in the match as they looked to assert themselves, and it didn’t take long to pay off as Lotta Raap put the Wanderers on the board after just 22 minutes with a good strike. The Panthers struggled to create chances against a strong Woden defence while making mistakes at their end, and were punished again just after the half hour mark as youngster Ella Brown finished well to double the advantage for the visitors. 

Monaro hit back however, and Alicia Meuronen’s long range effort eight minutes before half-time had them seemingly right back in the contest as they went into the break down by one goal. 

But the visitors struggled after the interval, particularly up front as the Wanderers strongly marked Zoe Szeremet to stifle her influence on the matchup.  Woden-Weston continued to press and create chances, and were rewarded with 10 minutes to go in the game as Cassia McGlashan received the ball from a corner and fired a rocket from outside the box to stretch the lead back to two goals.

And they still had time for one more goal as Madeleine Paull got on the board with three minutes left in regulation to seal the win at 4-1 and a spot in the final four. 

 

Canberra United Academy 5 (Zoe Terry 5’, Aoife Colvill 30^’, Laura Hughes 49’, 62’, Sarah Morgan 72’)def. Tuggeranong United 0

The Canberra United Academy put an end to Tuggeranong United’s slim finals hopes with an emphatic 5-0 win on Sunday afternoon at Hawker. 

Zoe Terry got the hosts off to the perfect start after just five minutes as she put them in the lead, and gave them the ascendancy for the first half. The Academy held sway as Tuggies struggled to get back into the match, and Aoife Colvill doubled the advantage on the half-hour mark as she finished off a good move to give her side a 2-0 lead at half-time. 

Tuggeranong looked to fight their way back into the match at the start of the second half but were left reeling as Laura Hughes scored just four minutes in, before completing her brace with just under 30 minutes to go in the match. With the hosts well on top it seemed inevitable that they would score again, and Sarah Morgan’s strike with eighteen minutes to go stretched the lead out to five goals, where it stayed until the final whistle.