Article: Jeremy Magan
Photo: Anthony Caffery Photography

Canberra Olympic 6 (Kockum 2’, 69’, Begg 15’, 19’, Cook 66’ (p), Croker 90+3’) defeated Tuggeranong United 0

Andrew Woodman’s squad has done it. A year after finishing at the bottom of the table, they are now officially in semi-finals. Tuggeranong, full of promises and young talent, was no match for Olympic after their brilliant start at O’Connor on Saturday. On a clear mission, the home side did not waste time trying to secure that result. Within 20 minutes, they were up 3-0. As is now usual for Olympic, Nicole Begg filled up the stat sheet. 75 seconds into the game, her low cross found Louise Kockum for the first goal of the day. Kockum made it up to her 15 minutes later, with a through ball that Begg received in the box. She dribbled the Tuggeranong keeper and pushed the ball in the back of the net. The next through ball came from Lara Burdett with the same result. as Begg beat Sanzari from close range. Without Stanbury, injured, Tuggeranong had a hard time bouncing back from such a terrible start. Their defence finally settled and showed more strength, pressing a bit higher and preventing these passes behind their back.

The second half started better for the visitors but Olympic would take advantage of their opportunities. Just after the hour mark, Kockum was brought down in the box by Coates and the referee did not hesitate to point to the spot, which was promptly converted by Ally Cook. Three minutes later, a good sequence for Olympic ended in Lara Burdett again threading a pass through for Kockum. The striker met the ball at the edge of the box and shot it past Sanzari for her second goal of the day. The score could have been more severe but Sanzari and her defence kept fighting and denying the Blues’ chances, at least until the 93^rd minute, when Emma Croker scored the sixth goal of the match.

Canberra Croatia 3 (Field 6’, 71’, Gill 70’) defeated Gungahlin United 1 (Aitolu 10’)

Canberra Croatia finishes the season with a perfect record! Eight wins in eight games, Nik Brozinic and his players will be proud they took all 24 points in 2020. The game in Deakin was a potential preview of the Grand Final if both teams win their semis on Sunday, and it certainly had the intensity of it! Both teams came in the game ready to give their all despite already being qualified for the next round. The game started the best way possible for the home team, Grace Field was found perfectly by Alice Churchill in the box and her shot snuck past Kailey Tonini. There was no time to wonder what Gungahlin’s reaction would be, as Rhiannon Fensom’s pass to her keeper Ally Hinson was too short, giving Tianah Miro a clear opportunity. Hinson denied the Gunner but the ball fell to Elke Aitolu just outside the box and the young striker found the bottom corner of the target. The rest of the first half was a very intense battle, where the ball was mostly in Gungahlin’s half. Tonini had to be on her A-game to prevent Gill and Chao from scoring. The visitors seemed comfortable defending low and counter-attacking to try and bring the danger in Canberra Croatia’s box.

The second half started with a bit less intensity, both teams having a hard time finding the right pass in the last 30 meters. Often when that is the case, individual talent can unlock a situation, and Grace Gill proved just that. Closely marked and restrained by Lejins and Perceval until then, she eliminated the latter with a skillful drag-back with 20 minutes left to play, and sent a powerful shot in the top right corner of the goal, leaving Tonini motionless. A minute later, Gambale’s clearance bounced on Lejins and Field luckily received the ball in the box. She did not hesitate and adjusted Tonini for the third and last goal of the game.

Wagga City Wanderers 5 (Lockley 10’, Castle 38’, 52’ (p), Vaccari 59’, Tuksar 71’) defeated Woden Weston 0

Wagga was hosting Woden Weston for the last game of the season at Gissing Oval, for a battle of two Wanderers without consequence on the ladder. As usual, the Riverina side did not wait long to bring the danger in their visitors’ box, within 20 seconds Woden Weston’s keeper Esposito already had made a save. Mark Boyd’s team responded straight away by Whitfield, whose long-range shot forced Sam Emms to a dive and concede a corner. Wagga found the net first, and in style. A freekick from just outside the box by Piper Lockley beautifully floated over the wall into the top left corner. Woden Weston’s first half was made harder when they were down to 10 men for 10 minutes, their captain Vandenbroucke being “sin-binned” for dissent at the 24^th minute. Four minutes after she came back on the field, Maddie Harris’ shot was denied by Esposito but landed in front of Castle who just had to tap it in.

The second half started the worst way possible for Woden Weston. Five minutes into the second act, the assistant referee called his colleague to point out that Iesha De Andrade had stopped Harris’ goal-scoring opportunity with her arm. The referee pointed at the penalty spot and gave De Andrade a red card. Castle took care of the spot-kick and beat Esposito. The goalkeeper’s afternoon would get worse a few minutes later when she was not able to keep a long-range free-kick in her gloves, as Vaccari followed well and tapped the ball in the back of the net. Esposito injured herself on that intervention and was replaced by second keeper Lilian Geale. Geale saved a couple of Wagga attempts on goal but could not do anything to prevent Ava Tuskar to score the goal of the game. The defender inherited the ball outside the box on the right side and took just one touch to chip the ball on the opposite top corner, over the visitors’ keeper, to make it 5-0.

Canberra United Academy 2 (Taylor-Young 55’, Hunt 75’) defeated Belconnen United 1 (Jalocha 59’)

The duel between the two teams who call Hawker home would be the last game of the NPLW regular season 2020. Both their fate was sealed before the game, Belconnen assured to face Gungahlin in the semi-finals while CUA was condemned to finish out of the top four after Olympic's win against Tuggeranong on Saturday. The Blue Devils started on a high, with captain Michaela Day finding herself in the box twice in the first two minutes. She could not quite adjust her shot to be dangerous but the Academy was warned. From there on, however, Belconnen would have a hard time bringing the danger in front of Isobel Davy. Grove, Canavan, Hampson and Jensen, the home side’s back four, used all their pace and sense of anticipation to annihilate any opportunity for the visitors. Belconnen showed signs of frustration, and Thornton deserved a yellow card after she brought down Sasha Grove to stop a counter-attack, while Clarke should have probably been sent off five minutes later when she fouled Anna Hunt outside the box, as the young striker was about the face Giovinazzo one on one. She got away with a yellow instead.

The second half started with the same battle in the midfield and a lack of opportunities. The danger came from set pieces. CUA did eventually take the lead, as a free-kick from the right side for Academy found Hayley Taylor-Young at the near post. Free of any marking, the young Westfield W-League player glanced her header perfectly in the side net to give her team the lead. Belconnen’s response would not take long, as Nicole Jalocha jumped to challenge Isobel Davy as she was trying to catch the ball in the air, and the ball bounced behind the young keeper’s line before she brought it back in play. After a short hesitation, the goal was given to the Blue Devils. The game remained cagey until the 75th minute when the Academy restored their lead. Sasha Grove found Anna Hunt 25 meters away from the goals. Hunt did not hesitate and hit a powerful strike that dived just under the bar, out of reach of Giovinazzo. The Blue Devils pushed for the equalizer and almost found the back of the net a minute later, but Davy did well to deflect a long-range free-kick by Clarke. The few corners Belconnen was awarded until the end of the game would not change the final score.