West Canberra Wanderers 0 def by Canberra Croatia FC 5(Palombi 7’, Berkeley 38’, Gill 47’, 68’, Jones 75’)

Canberra Croatia FC has claimed a 5-0 win over the West Canberra Wanderers in Round 2 of the NPLW at Melrose Synthetic.

It took less than ten minutes for Croatia to open the scoring. A great run down the right-hand side flank from Krista Hagan, saw the ball lobbed across goals to star striker Brittany Palombi who finished the job superbly. Within the next few minutes, the guests gave it their best shot to get their second goal for the afternoon, but the West Canberra Wanderers displayed strong defensive effort. In the 25th minute, Croatia’s number 18 Jennifer Bisset went for a long range shot which caught a few Wanderers off guard. Fortunately for the Wanderers, it hit the cross bar and went out. Only one goal up at this point, the Wanderers had a good chance to equalize at minute 29 but player/coach Emma Stanbury was unable to find any help up the business end to reward her great run towards goals.

The West Canberra Wanderers’ goal keeper Janet King was kept extremely busy from here in on, making an incredible save in the 38th minute only for her efforts to go to waste. After King punched away an attempt, Croatia’s Jamie Berkeley found the flying ball and nudged it in the left hand side to get Croatia up by 2. Into the second half and Croatia was clearly in it to win it, with Grace Gill using great control to score in the 47th minute. Just one minute later and it would have been 4-0 if it weren’t for a brilliant save from King who flicked the ball up over the cross bar. The Wanderers were unable to match Croatia’s intensity and experience, with Grace Gill earning a brace, scoring again in the 68th minute. Within ten minutes of Chantel Jones subbing on, she solidified the win with the side’s 5th goal for the afternoon, using her skill and experience to nudge a trailing ball past King, into the back of the net.

Canberra Croatia gets their first win of the season, with an encouraging showing and some improvements in front of goals they will look to confirm in Kambah on Sunday. For West Canberra, it is a second defeat in a row, a tough start for Stanbury, but these 2 games were against title contenders . The game in Hawker on Saturday against Canberra United Academy will give more indications on the ability for the Wanderers to fight for a post-season spot.

Belconnen United 7(Bobbin 10’, 15’, 36’, Bomford 38’, Thornton 25’, 55’, 60’)def by Canberra United Football Club Academy 1 (Christopherson 43’)

A new coach, 2 wins in 2 games and 15 goals scored. This 2021 season looks eerily like 2020 for the Blue Devils.

Canberra United Academy lined up the same squad that almost caused an upset last Sunday, but for their third game in a week (they play a round of Federation Cup midweek, lost 5-2 to Canberra Croatia) they looked a shadow of themselves. Belconnen, without Nicole Jalocha, and without goalkeeper Cristina Esposito, and with centre back Karen Clarke between the sticks, developed their usual football, and never were threatened by the Academy. Keira Bobbin launched the fireworks after 10 minutes of observation between the 2 teams. Following a long ball by Clarke, the winger’s acceleration was no match for Tayla Hampson. Bobbin sped up to the box and sneaked the ball between Jayla Murphy and her near post with her left foot. The intensity and high press showed by the Academy a week ago was nowhere to be seen, and the greens had all the difficulties to execute three passes under the Blue Devils’ constant pressure, very rarely finding themselves in the other half of the pitch. 5 minutes after her first goal, Bobbin was at it again. Reilly Yuen outsped Annie Grove in the box, turned around and crossed the ball, who bounced in the middle of an apathic defence. Bobbin appeared, controlled the ball and soft volleyed it in the back of the net. The third goal came from Belconnen captain Michaela Thornton. Murphy played a short goal kick, but her midfield did not attack the ball. Thornton did not need a better invitation, she jumped in front of her opponent, found herself with the ball in the box and placed it in the opposite side net.

The first half was dominated head and shoulders by Belconnen. By the 36th minute, Bobbin validated her hat-trick with a perfect copycat of the first goal: a ball on the right wing, a run past her defender and a ball between the keeper and the post. A minute later Murphy could only deflect Yuen’s cross in the feet of Olivia Bomford, who happily tapped it in the empty net. The Academy finally caught a breather in the last 5 minutes of the first half, playing a bit more offense. 2 minutes before going to the locker room, Christopherson made the best of a ball on her right corridor. She dribbled past her opponent, ran into the box, and saw her shot slipping through Clarke’s gloves. The Academy forward thought she would score a second goal a minute later with an attempt from 25 yards on its way to the top left corner of Clarke’s goals, but the skipper proved her team could count on her in that new jersey, with a stunning save, keeping Belconnen 4 goals ahead at the break. The Blue Devils started the second half on a slower pace, giving the Academy the opportunity to play a bit more. Clarke took the opportunity to realize another class save to prevent any further hope for the home team. Belconnen stayed as lethal as ever, and Thornton only needed 15 minutes to complete her own hat-trick. 2 shots from outside the box, at the 55^th and 60^th, the latter a screamer in the top left corner of Murphy’s goals, sealed the deal for this one-sided match.

The last 30 minutes dropped in intensity and the goal opportunities were scarce. Michael Zakoski records his second win in as many games at the head of Belconnen, before another test this Saturday in O’Connor at 10.30am against Canberra Olympic. Canberra United Academy will look to put this game behind them, and bounce back against West Canberra on Saturday afternoon.

 

Canberra Olympic FC 1 (Sykes 21’) def by Gungahlin United FC 3 (Pennyfield 42’, 68’, E. Brown 87’)

A week after a last minute goal gave Olympic the win in West Canberra, they were unable to record the same result for their first game at home, against a Gunners’ team that seems ready to challenge for the title this season.

The game started on a high rhythm, both teams showcasing their ability to keep the ball in the build-up. The first alert was on Kaley Tonini’s goal after a corner-kick, but the keeper saw the ball going inches away from her left post. Gungahlin answered by Jade Brown, who after a superb service by Elke Aitolu, saw her powerful strike from the edge of the box deflected away by Aurelia Haynes. Olympic would find the back of the net first. The Gunners were not able to clear the ball properly and after a lucky blunder, Ashleigh Sykes found herself 1v1 with Tonini. The striker did not let that chance slip away and placed the ball perfectly in the bottom right corner. Gungahlin tried to answer straight away but Brigitte Sander’s shot was once again stopped by Haynes. The whole Olympic defence was at fault 3 minutes before the break though, when Stella de Marc was given all the time in the world to adjust a perfect through ball for Erika Pennyfield, whose run was unfollowed. The midfielder’s left-footed effort slipped through Haynes gloves. The goalkeeper would save her team once more before the break though, with a stunning save following a point blank header by Madeleine Perceval.

Nicole Begg’s players thought they had found the solution a minute into the second act, but Sykes, recovering the ball in her own half and after a run past 3 Gunners, could not adjust her strike past Tonini. Diego Iglesias’ side would rarely be endangered after that, mostly thanks to a very serious game defensively, with all players involved in recovering the ball every time it was in Olympic’s possession. The battle of the midfield was constant throughout the second half, but the Gunners kept trying to play their passing football. The reward came at the 67^th minute, and again from Pennyfield. She took advantage of an Olympic midfielder slipping and took her chance from 35 yards away. Her strike took a dive just under the crossbar and gave her team an advantage they would not let go. Gungahlin kept pushing and had several opportunities to make the score worse. A 100% De Marco play saw Natalie finding Stella behind the Blues’ defence, but her shot hit the crossbar. Ella-Rose Brown would find the back of the net though, following a headed through-ball by Pennyfield. Brown dribbled the last Olympic defender and put the ball past Haynes. The keeper was sollicitated one last time by Jade Brown, but the forward’s left shot lacked power and was stopped easily.

The showdown ended in favour of Gungahlin, who with a second win are at the top of table, trailing the Blue Devils only because of the goal difference. They will want to confirm their good start of the season next Sunday in Wagga. Canberra Olympic won’t have time to dwell on that defeat too much: Nicole Begg and her players are already looking to the next title contender visiting O’Connor on Saturday: Belconnen United.

Tuggeranong United FC 1 (Terry 86’) def by Wagga City Wanderers 5 (Grauer-Kompos 48’, 80’, Castle 56’, 67’, Cameron 75’)

The game between the 8^th and 7^th of last season turned in favour of the latter, with all 6 goals scored in the second half.

For their first game without Michael Aldred on the bench, Tuggeranong showed a lot of spirits and had to opportunities to score first, but eventually paid their missed chances. Sam Gray had his team playing a usual high line, often trapping the Tuggeranong forwards off-side. In a cagey first half that saw the Wanderers’ best chance being pushed by Sophie Rolfe on her crossbar, both teams seem to focus on not conceding, and most of the ball possession was the visitors’. The second half started on a whole other rhythm. A minute in, Tuggeranong forward Melinda Reavell had hit the crossbar. A minute later, she found herself alone a meter away from the goal-line but went for a chest control instead of a header and saw the ball drifting away. Wagga took the warning seriously and answered immediately. Megan Castle found Cristina Grauer-Kompos at the far post, and the former Canberra Croatia forward, although not connecting properly with the ball, lobbed Rolfe to score her first goal of the day. Wagga City took control of the game again. 10 minutes later, Castle was found in the back of the Tuggeranong defence, solid until then. Rolfe came out of her goals to meet the Wanderer striker, but was unable to control her tackle, taking Castle down irregularly in the penalty area. From the spot kick, Castle made it 2-0 despite Rolfe’s foot touching the ball. Wagga’s number 9 score her second of the day with a bit over 30 minutes left to play, with a skilled touch, sneaking the ball between Rolfe and her near post. The afternoon went from bad to worse for the keeper, who failed to clear the ball after a back pass, offering Kirrilee Cameron her first goal in a Wanderers’ jersey. Grauer-Kompos completed her brace with the goal of the afternoon at the 80^th minute. After some nice footwork by Piper Lockley, the new Wanderer did not hesitate and from the edge of the box scored in the opposite top corner. Tuggeranong would score their first goal of the season 5 minutes later, thanks to Zoe Terry, excellent on her right wing the whole game. On one of her many runs, she let her pace do to the talking, outran 3 Wagga defenders and put the ball out of reach and in the back of Samy Emms’ net. Too little too late for the home team.

The Wanderers get their first 3 points in the competition before their first home game, on Sunday against in-form Gungahlin. For Tuggeranong, there are still positives to take from the loss, and performances from players like Zoe Terry, Melinda Reavell, Cassandra Gugliemin and Ashley-Lea Condon are all encouraging signs for the team at the bottom of the table after 2 games, though hosting Canberra Croatia on Sunday won’t be an easy task.