Woden-Weston 0 def. by Canberra FC 7 (Rachael Goldstein 8’, 20’, 27’, 56’, 75’, 90’, Jamie Berkeley 90+1’)

Canberra FC put their foot down at Melrose on Saturday and stormed to a big 7-0 win against Woden-Weston thanks to a six-goal haul from Rachael Goldstein.

Goldstein got the ball rolling eight minutes in when she was played through by a superb pass from Anna Mihalyka and had time to compose before sliding a finish past Cristina Esposito in goals.

Sustained pressure from Canberra FC saw Esposito clearing the ball a number of times, and after one such clearance was turned over Krista Hagen played Goldstein through to fire home her second, and seven minutes later she had her third as a quick counter-attack caught the Woden-Weston backline napping.

That was it for the first half but it took only 11 second-half minutes for Goldstein to continue the spree, again set through by a through ball from a midfield battle before a clean finish for her fourth.

Woden-Weston battled back but it was 19 minutes before she netted her fifth after rounding substitute goalkeeper Lillian Geale to score.

The final two goals for Canberra FC came right at the death as Goldstein sealed her double hat-trick in the final minute of regulation time before Jamie Berkeley added the seventh in the first minute of injury time.

 

Tuggeranong United 0 def. by Gungahlin United 6 (Freyja Jacobsen 20’, 53’, Own Goal 37’, Ella Brown 42’, Alex Paterson 47’, 82’)

Gungahlin United responded positively from a first-round bye as they thrashed Tuggeranong United to the tune of six goals at Kambah on Sunday afternoon.

Freyja Jacobsen opened the scoring 20 minutes in as she tapped home a low cross from the right, but it was another 17 minutes before Lara Mustaine slipped the ball into her own net as she looked to cut out a cross destined for a Gungahlin attacker.

Five minutes later Ella Brown made it three, latching onto a long ball before her shot slipped inside the goalkeeper at the near post to put Gungahlin up 3-0 at half-time.

It took just two second half minutes for the visitors to continue scoring, this time it was Alex Paterson with her first, tucking home at the back post after a neat pass across the keeper from Stella DeMarco.

Six minutes following that Jacobsen scored her second, converting from the penalty spot and from there Gungahlin controlled the game, scoring one final time in the final 10 minutes as Paterson pulled off a sublime chip from out on the left wing to seal the 6-0 win.

Gungahlin United now face a big test as they take on Belconnen United this Sunday, while Tuggeranong will face Monaro Panthers at Riverside on Saturday night.

 

Canberra Olympic 0 def. by Canberra United Academy 9 (Sacha Grove 13’, 20’, 77’, Hayley Taylor-Young 47’, 60’, 71’, 84’, 85’, 86’)

By Jakob Gisik

A six goal haul from Hayley Taylor-Young and a Sasha Grove hat-trick has powered the Canberra United Academy to a 9-0 win over Canberra Olympic at O’Connor on Sunday afternoon.

Leading just 2-0 at the break, the Academy piled on seven second-half goals to bounce back in style from a disappointing round one loss.

It was a tough day for Olympic though, who fielded a new look side following an exodus of Westfield W-League players in the offseason.

Grove opened the scoring for the Academy in the 13th minute, slotting the ball past Olympic goalkeeper Madeleine Sanfrancesco after getting on the end of a well-weighted through ball from Taylor-Young.

The Academy speedster doubled her tally inside 20 minutes, this time pouncing on an errant back-pass and dribbling around Sanfrancesco before firing into an open net.

Olympic settled as the half wore on and even created a few chances of their own, with Natina Skinner looking dangerous up front for the home side.

Their best chance came in the 26th minute, when Skinner turned her defender and burst toward goal, only to see her shot fade to the right.

The second-half was all one-way traffic though, as Taylor-Young netted her first goal just 90 seconds after the break.

The Academy striker bagged her second just shy of the hour mark, before reaching her hat-trick in the 71st minute with arguably her best goal of the day.

Academy midfielder Molly Lawless provided a lovely ball for Taylor-Young who accelerated down the left-flank, juked into the penalty area and fired a powerful shot inside the near post.

Grove was not to be outdone by her teammate though, as she scored from close range six minutes later to secure a hat-trick of her own.

The last five minutes belonged to Taylor-Young however, who scored three goals to take her tally to six and push the lead out to nine.

While it was Taylor-Young and Grove that hit the scoresheet, they were often the beneficiaries of some slick ball movement that continually exposed the Olympic defence throughout the match.

The Academy will look to continue this form when they travel to Wagga to play the Wanderers next weekend, while Olympic will be hoping to bounce back when they take on Canberra FC.