Records tumbled with regularity as West Canberra Lightning breezed to a ninth win out of ten as they dismantled Queanbeyan-Palerang Power 32-0 on a night that re-wrote the CFL history books at Daramalan College.
The Champions were in no mood to be generous, despite having claimed their second successive league title the previous weekend and took the match to the Power from the outset.
Brittany Palombi roared to a Golden Boot success, claiming the record for the most individual goals in a match with thirteen, whilst Jamie Berkeley bagged nine as Lightning recorded the most goals in a CFL game and with it the biggest margin of success in any fixture.
The goals flowed as Lightning netted fifteen before the interval and proved relentless in their search for goals. Tatum Mazis ended with four and Isabella Barac three, with Dianne Wilson (two) and Amy McLachlan also scoring.
For their part the Power tested Natalie Lacey on a few occasions, Tallis Everard and Jasmine Norton forcing smart saves from the Lightning stopper, but every time they threatened a counter West Canberra were able to pick them apart on the break.
The UC Stars saw their hopes of a place in the CFL Semi-Finals dashed as the South Canberra Swift inflicted a come-from-behind 6-1 victory on the Saturday evening encounter.
A tight opening saw both teams sizing each other up with chances at a premium, neither goalkeeper needing to make a save of note in the first quarter of the encounter which was cagey and lacking in openings, a credit to both defences.
Ginger Oliver tested Vanessa Burdett with a low drive in the tenth minute, but it was Stars who went in front a minute later as Jada Lamond struck a low ball into the area which Eliza-Jane Norris stepped over to fool Emily Pearce in the Swift goal.
It took until a minute from the break for Swift to draw level as Sienna Birnie was freed on goal and slipped a delightful finish past the advancing Burdett, but suddenly the whole momentum of the contest switched as the Swift struck twice more in the final minute of the half.
Oliver swept a shot beyond Burdett at her near post to give the Swift the lead, an advantage that they increased moments later as Birnie struck her second with a shot from distance that eluded the Stars goalkeeper.
Needing to force their way back into the match the Stars upped the ante in the second-half but left themselves exposed to a possible counterattack, Burdett saving brilliantly from Reilly Yuen and Kaitlyn Colwell in quick succession.
There was little that Burdett could do to prevent Birnie completing her treble with eight minutes remaining, before Isabella Hindmarsh and Colwill put the match beyond the reach of the University outfit with the fifth and sixth respectively.
The final match of the round saw North Canberra Fire move into second place on the final league table as they defeated a tough ANU Apex 7-2.
In an exciting end-to-end half, Fire went ahead early on through a well-taken strike from Stella De Marco, only for Apex to find a response with Emily Robertson finishing a one-on-one with Jessica Giovinazzo with contemptuous ease for her tenth goal of the season.
After that it was anyone’s game, but the contest swung in favour of the Fire with a brace of goals within the space of thirty seconds, as Natalie De Marco and Karen Milewska both found a way past Sofia Chaverra.
And it got better for the Fire just before half-time as Zahra Nyamekye brought down Nikita Perry who brushed herself off to ram the penalty home and put the Fire ahead by three at the break.
It didn’t take the Fire long to increase their advantage as Ayla Robertson scooped in from close range eighteen seconds after the resumption, but Apex would not be shaken off and Emily Robertson lofted in a beautiful second after being found by an excellent pass from Isabella Hopkins.
Fire was to reassert their supremacy when Milewska saw a shot come back off the post for Olivia Gurney to slam home an emphatic finish, followed shortly after by a fine second for the same player.
RESULT
Fri: QP Power 0 West Canberra Lightning 32 (Barac 1’, 19’, 27’, Palombi 2’, 5’, 10’, 13’, 18’, 20’, 20’, 22’, 30’, 36’, 36’, 37’, 37’, Berkeley 4’, 7’, 13’, 15’, 23’, 29’, 34’, 35’, 38’, Mazis 13’, 21’, 32’, 35’, Wilson 17’, 36’, McLachlan 23’)
Sat: UC Stars 1 (Lamond 11’) South Canberra Swift 6 (Birnie 19’, 20’, 32’, Oliver 20’, Hindmarsh 36’, Colwill 38’)
Sun: North Canberra Fire 7 (S. De Marco 4’, N. De Marco 16’, Milewska 16’, Perry 18’ (p), Robertson 21’, Gurney 34’, 36’) ANU Apex 2 (Robertson 9’, 29’)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | West Canberra Lightning | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 124 | 13 | +111 | 27 |
| 2 | North Canberra Fire | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 65 | 24 | +41 | 21 |
| 3 | South Canberra Swift | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 96 | 30 | +66 | 18 |
| 4 | ANU Apex | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 48 | 55 | -7 | 12 |
| 5 | UC Stars | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 46 | 64 | -18 | 12 |
| 6 | QP Power | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 197 | -193 | 0 |
TOP SCORERS
37 Brittany PALOMBI (Lightning)
30 Reilly YUEN (Swift)
27 Jamie BERKELEY (Lightning)
18 Isabella BARAC (Lightning)
15 Tatum MAZIS (Lightning)
14 Isabella HINDMARSH (Swift)
11 Sienna BIRNIE (Swift), Emily ROBERTSON (Apex)
9 Kaitlyn COLWILL (Swift), Stella DE MARCO (Fire)
8 Sofia PALYWODA (Swift)
7 Natalie DE MARCO (Fire), Olivia GURNEY (Fire), Ella PALFRAMAN (Stars), Bessie RIETHMULLER (Fire), Ayla ROBERTSON (Fire), Maddie STEINACKER (Stars), Dianne WILSON (Lightning)
6 Elke AITOLU (Fire), Emily DANIEL (Stars), Edith FORDYCE-CROKER (Apex), Jada LAMOND (Stars), Ginger OLIVER (Swift), Alexandra SERRAS (Apex)
5 Jennifer BISSET (Lightning), Ella BROWN (Fire), Sharon CHAO (Swift), Tayla HAMPSON (Stars), Ailish MCDONAGH (Apex), Amy MCLACHLAN (Lightning), Becky RIZZO (Stars), Pearl TEIN (Fire)
4 Sofia CHAVERRA (Apex), Grace DAVEY (Apex), Alyse JENSEN (Swift), Stefi LEJINS (Fire), Madeliene PERCEVAL (Lightning), Nikita PERRY (Fire), Samantha PRICE (Swift), Roxie SWART (Apex), Own GOALS
3 Brianna MAGUIRE (Apex), Eiza-Jane NORRIS (Stars)
2 Cara CERUTI (Swift), Tallis EVERARD (Power), Jessica GIOVINAZZO (Fire), Pascale LA HEI (Apex), Jasmine NORTON (Power), Erika PENNYFIELD (Lightning)
1 Elke DUNN (Stars), Amalia EDEVANE (Apex), Charli GREGSON (Stars), Krista HAGEN (Lightning), Isabella HOPKINS (Apex), Samantha HOST (Lightning), Sheridan MCELLIGOTT (Apex), Karen MILEWSKA (Fire), Emily PEARCE (Swift), Sabrina SPINAPOLICE (Stars), Ellie SUMMERS (Swift), Kate WALKER (Stars)
