Article: Jeremy Magan
Photo: Anthony Caffery Photography

Wagga City Wanderers FC 1 (Brandy Nicholson 62’) defeated by Canberra Olympic FC 5 (Ashleigh Sykes 1’, 33’, Emily Hoffman 37’, Emma Croker 45’, Gemma Murphy 89’)

Olympic confirmed their status as a top-four side in 2020 by winning 5-1 in Wagga, a week after they defeated Woden Weston home on that same score. No surprise, the Sykes sister were all over the stats sheet once again. The game started the worst way possible for Wagga City. A minute in the game, Nicole Begg received the ball 25 minutes away from the goal, and just pushed it to her sister between two defenders. Ashleigh Sykes found herself facing Samantha Emms alone and beat the keeper from close range. The next 30 minutes saw Canberra Olympic asserting their domination on the Wanderers, and another Begg to Sykes combination just after the half-hour mark saw the latter score her second goal of the afternoon. Three minutes later, unfortunately for the home team, a great tackle cleared into Emily Hoffman and the ball miraculously lobbed Emms in goals to give Olympic an assertive lead. The visitors finished the half on a high, with Sykes running down her left-wing and crossing the ball to Emily Hoffman. Her shot landed on Emma Croker, a few inches away from the nets, who just had to tap the ball into the net to add her name on the scoresheet. Wagga City came back from the locker room with better intentions and were rewarded 15 minutes into the second half on a corner kick. The Blues’ defence failed to clear the ball fast enough, so Brandy Nicholson took her chance from the edge of the box and found the back of the net. Olympic scored their fifth goal a minute before the end of the game, as Nicole Begg beat a couple of players on the left flank, before passing the ball to Gemma Murphy in the box who finished with her left foot. 

Woden Weston FC 2 (Sarah Whitfield 89’, Alex McKenzie 91’) draw with Canberra United Academy 2 (Alexandra Gidis 10’, Sasha Grove 36’)

The Academy left the Melrose Synthetic with regrets on Sunday, letting two points slip through their fingers after leading for 81 minutes. CUA did not wait long to showcase their firepower; a minute after Anna Hunt’s shot was beautifully saved by Cristina Esposito, Alexandra Gidis won the ball against two Wanderers before leaving the keeper no choice from close range. The Wanderers did well defensively to give very few opportunities to the Academy, and but their first attempt on goal only came at the half-hour mark, as CUA keeper Isobel Davy deflected a powerful shot from 25 meters away. Five minutes later, Sasha Grove was at the end of a through ball from Sofia Christopherson and finished with a powerful right-foot shot. Grove almost scored again a minute later but she put the ball wide. The second half started with the same rhythm, with two teams battling in the midfield and CUA getting more opportunities in front of goal. Grove and Hayley Taylor-Young both had opportunities to score a third goal, but Esposito had other plans for them. Woden Weston started to press higher and higher but their chance was thwarted by an alert Davy, who saved a long-range free kick in the 75th minute. Ten minutes later, Sarah Whitfield beat two Academy defenders outside the box and her shot found the bottom corner, giving hope to the home team. A freekick by Alex McKenzie in the 90^th minute sealed the fate of the game after her shot landed just under the crossbar. Both teams had a last chance attempt at winning but the score remained 2-2. 

Tuggeranong United FC 0 defeated by Belconnen United FC 8 (Catherine Brown 2’, 59’, 67’, Forner 17’, 35’, 45+1’, Mia McGovern 61’, Jessie Rasschaert 78’)

It was a tough afternoon for the Tuggies in Kambah, as they were overpowered by a very strong Belconnen United team. The reigning champions did not let the hosts settle, as Catherine Brown scored within the opening two minutes. Alexia Forner scored the first of her hattrick 15 minutes later, with a magnificent shot from 30 meters out. An unlucky deflection from Steph Coates sent Forner’s shot at the 35^th minute in the back of the net, and the number 10 completed her hattrick just before the half time whistle, finishing from inside the box after a good one-two combination with Nicole Jalocha. 4-0 at half time sounded severe for a young Tuggies side who never gave up. They came back from the locker room with intention to press higher and create a couple of dangerous opportunities, but Belconnen weathered the storm and extended their lead. Mia McGovern found Brown at the far post and the left winger scored her second goal of the afternoon. McGovern scored two minutes later thanks to a long range shot right under the cross bar, and Brown completed her hat trick at the 67^th minute, with a powerful left shot that left Bella Sanzari no chance. The last goal of the afternoon came on a corner kick, Jessie Rasschaert successfully heading the ball in the top right corner.

Gungahlin United FC 5 (Erika Pennyfield 19’, Ruby Gambale 61’, Alex Paterson 63’, Taniah Miro 77’, Stella de Marco 81’) defeat Monaro Panthers FC 0

It is nine points out of a possible nine for Gungahlin, as Diego Iglesias’ side claimed thier third win on the trot. Sunday’s victory against Monaro took its time to come to fruition, and the Panthers were the first one to be dangerous, with Darby Whiteley's free kick landing on the crossbar after 11 minutes. Minutes later, a good combination between Ella-Rose Brown, Stella de Marco and Elke Aitolu was stopped by the Monaro defence, but the ball ended up in Erika Pennyfield’s feet, whose shot was deflected and found the back of the net. The Gunners held on to their small lead until half time, playing their usual passing football in the middle of the park without providing much threat going forward. It took them 15 minutes in the second half to double their lead, when Ruby Gambale received a cross from Alex Paterson and just had to push the ball in the net from close range. Paterson scored a lucky goal minutes later, her cross finishing in the top left corner of Janet King’s goals. With under 15 minutes left to play, Taniah Miro showed her skills from outside the box with a beautiful right foot landing just under the crossbar. Stella De Marco finished the job at the 81^st minute, pushing a ball the Panthers struggled to clear in the back of the net.