Belconnen United FC 8 (Johnston 7’, Backhouse 41’, 90+1’, Bobbin 49’, 52’, Tuksar 63’ (og), Bomford 79’, Jalocha 83’) beat Wagga City Wanderers 1 (Castle 30’)

His career at Belconnen has started in the best way possible for Michael Zakoski with a dominant win against Wagga City Wanderers. 

Belconnen wasted no time to test Emms, who was able to deflect an early shot. Unfortunately for the Wagga keeper, she could not block a free kick by Thornton minutes later, and Johnston followed well to open the score at McKellar.

The visitors were given a lifeline by the referee at the half hour mark, when a penalty was given for an unlucky hand ball. Prolific striker Castle kept her composure and carefully placed the ball in the bottom right to equalize.

Emms delayed the inevitable a couple of times but 4 minutes before the break, Backhouse finally was able to put the ball past the Wanderers´ goalkeeper, allowing her team to come to the locker room with a thin advantage. 

Within 7 minutes in the second half, Bobbin had twice found the back of the net with powerful shots from close range. Emms would again show her quality until the 90th minute, preventing the lead to reach double digits.

Castle had an opportunity to bring her team back in the game but new Belconnen goalkeeper Esposito had a solid hand to prevent the ball from passing the goal line.

 Bomford scored the 6th goal for the Blue Devils, with a beautiful shot from outside the box. The home side kept pushing and took advantage of the visitors’ obvious fatigue to score another 2 goals, by Jalocha and Backhouse. 

 The result seems harsh for the Wanderers, who came to McKellar with the best intentions and were in the game for 50 minutes. With a full squad, the Riverina team could cause some upsets this year, especially on home soil.

 

West Canberra Wanderers FC 1 (Leten 52’) def. by Canberra Olympic FC 2 (Vandenbroucke 15’, Sykes 90’)

With two new coaches, both former Canberra United players, the duel at Melrose was one of benches, with Emma Stanbury and Nicole Begg wearing their manager hat for the first time.

Vandenbroucke was the first goal scorer of the afternoon, who just had to tap the ball in after Sykes’ powerful strike was only deflected by King. The former Panther won her second duel with Vanderbroucke 5 minutes before half time, to keep her team in the game. At the other end, Haynes had to remain vigilant a minute before, to interrupt a counter attack and save a shot from the edge of the box by Whitfield. The score would remain in favour of Olympic as both teams went back to the locker room. 

Back for the second half, the Wanderers were quick to level the game. 7 minutes in, Leten’s header was deflected by a Blue defender in her own net, out of reach for Haynes. At 1-1, both teams fought for opportunities, in a game rather dominated by Olympic. It was clear that both sides changed about half of their starting 11 during the off-season, and you can expect much better football played by either of these teams later on in the season. Yet Nicole Begg’s team would have the last word, thanks to no other than her twin sister Ashleigh Sykes.

Canberra Olympic took all 3 points at Melrose.

 

Canberra Croatia FC 2 (Palombi 73’,90+2’) draw with Canberra United Academy 2 (Hunt 26’, 82’)

Visiting the 2020 undefeated champion on week 1 was not the easiest draw for Canberra United Academy, yet they were seconds away from the upset at Deakin. 

Canberra Croatia lined up without their leader Grace Gill, in Sydney for the Westfield W-League Grand Final, but in safe hands thanks to Bisset in the midfield and Fogarty up front. Bisset’s name would be on the scoresheet if it was not for a very inspired Jayla Murphy, between the posts for the Academy this season. The young goalkeeper, who arrived from Belconnen in the offseason, almost disrupted the whole Deakin offense by herself. Palombi, Bisset and Berkeley tried to put the ball past her, without success.

 Meanwhile for the Academy, Hunt and Christopherson had successfully used their pace a couple of times to get the better of the home side’s back line. On a counter attack just before the half hour mark it’s the number 9 from CUA, launched behind Chruchill by Roden, who took a perfect first touch to find herself facing Hinson. The Canberra Croatia goalkeeper left her near post open, Hunt saw it and sneaked the ball in to open the score for the visitor, an advantage they would keep until the end of the half.

The second act saw the home team keep pushing, finally rewarded with 17 minutes left to play. Following a good effort by Fogarty, Palombi reached the edge of the box, dribbled past Grove, and launched a powerful left shot that left the hero of the match so far no chance. The Academy did not fold though, and less than 10 minutes later, Christopherson used her pace to beat Churchill, who fouled the winger right on the 16 metre line. Hunt took her responsibilities from the spot kick and scored her second goal of the game. Eddie Salvatore’s girls thought the upset was theirs in game 1, but in the dying moments of the game, Hampson, solid until then, misjudged her back pass and offered the ball to Palombi meters away from the goal line. The 2020 Golden Boot did not hesitate and chipped the ball over Murphy to offer her side a deserved point. 

 

Gungahlin United FC 4 (J. Brown 10’, 63’, Corbett 30’, Perceval 75’) beat Tuggeranong United FC 0 

The last game of the weekend was a North/South suburb duel, that the Gunners took away against a Tuggeranong team plagued with injuries. 

Without their striker Magee or their captain, Coates, the Tuggies, still put up a good fight in the first half. They played compact and defended low, going for fast breakaways to get near Tonini’s area. On the other end of the pitch, Diego Iglesias’ players did not waste any time. 10 minutes into the game, Jade Brown’s powerful strike finished in the top right corner and left Rolfe no chance, for what probably is the goal of the weekend in NPLW. Minutes after Leijins had found the post, Corbett decided to clean the other cobwebs above Rolfe, with a shot from the edge of the box ending in the top left corner.

The second half started with more of the same domination from the home team. The best opportunity for Tuggeranong came at the hour mark. A corner allowed to bounce in the middle of the box was volleyed in at the far post, from close range by Williams, and Tonini was lucky to see the ball going straight in her arms. The Gunners took the warning seriously and 3 minutes later Brown would score her second goal of the afternoon, pushing the ball into the empty net after she had skillfully dribbled Rolfe. The home side kept pushing, and following a corner kick, the captain Perceval added her name on the scoresheet with 15 minutes left to play in the game. The Tuggeranong goalkeeper, despite the result, is arguably the best recruit of the off-season for Michael Aldred.

The Gunners did the job, with a win at home to launch their season.