A week after her player of the match award at the Federation Cup Final, Tianah Miro offered another recital of skills, pace and finishing bagging a hat-trick as Canberra Olympic defeated Tuggeranong United 6-0 at Hawker Football Centre.

The winger was the first to beat Sam Emms, who was again in brilliant form, after a ball was lost by the Tuggies in their defensive area. Ten minutes later it was Olympic’s leading goal scorer, Michaela Thornton who added one to her tally at the end of a great run on the left wing.

Olympic looked unstoppable from there and made it three just before the break, thanks to Olivia Gurney’s powerful right footed effort. Back from the locker room, Miro only needed fifteen minutes to complete her hat trick, using her pace and skills to score either side of an own goal by Charlotte McAvoy.

Tuggeranong defended well for most of the game, but only really tested Janet King once at the end of the first half. Olympic were simply too strong for the team of the South.

The reigning champions, Canberra Croatia were travelling to the Riverina two days later to claim back their seat at the top of the ladder and did so with a 6-1 win over Wagga City Wanderers.

Despite their domination, the visitors only scored once in the first act, at the half hour mark. Brittany Palombi’s thunderous right footed effort in the top right corner is what it took to finally beat Ebony Warner.

Jamie Berkeley stole the show in the second half with three goals. She is the seventh player in the Canberra Croatia outfit this season to record a hat trick (after Mia Giorgi, Jennifer Bisset, Krista Hagen, Bella Barac, Sienna Birnie and Brittany Palombi), proof, if need be, of the firepower the Deakin side possesses.

The midfielder’s first goal, five minutes into the second half, was a tap in at the end of a scramble in the box. Her second seven minutes later was a showcase of her strength and a duel won against Warner.

Wagga City tried to come back in the contest with an opportunistic goal by the quick footed Paula May Mitchell with just under 20 minutes to go, but their hopes were shut down in four minutes by the visitors. Birnie at the 76^th minute, Berkeley at the 78^th and a somewhat lucky goal by Palombi at the 80^th sealed the fate of the game and allowed Canberra Croatia to remain at the top of the table.

Gungahlin United and Belconnen United were meeting at Gungahlin Enclosed Oval on Sunday, with Diego Iglesias back on the Gunners’ bench. Maddie Perceval was celebrating a century of WNPL games on the occasion, but unfortunately could not help her team to an elusive second win of the season.

Despite a strong start of the game, the Gunners conceded just past the half hour. Two of the most experienced players on the pitch combined to score the one and only goal of the game, when Karen Clarke’s long throw offered Talia Backhouse an unmissable chance to head the ball in the back of the net for close range.

In difficult windy conditions, the second half was mostly a cagey affair between two teams well positioned defensively, and unable to put their opponents off-balance. The comeback of Darby Whitely on the wing for Gungahlin brought more speed upfront but was not enough to find an equaliser.

The weekend ended at Hawker as is often the case, with Canberra United Academy and West Canberra Wanderers sharing the spoils in a 1-1 draw.

As expected with these two squads, it was an entertaining game with quite a bit of action on both ends despite the result. Bessie Reithmuller was credited with the best opportunity of the first half, an attempt on the crossbar in the first ten minutes, but the teams went back to the locker room on a scoreless draw.

The first goal came in less than two minutes into the second act when Isabelle Hindmarsh inherited the ball at the edge of the box. Her powerful shot seemed in reach of Ally Hinson, but the otherwise solid shot stopper on Sunday did not have firm enough hands on this occasion.

Chasing the equaliser, the Wanderers were rewarded fifteen minutes before the break by a real striker’s goal from West Canberra Captain Sarah Whitfield. The captain received the ball into the box, carefully positioned herself on her right foot and launched a rocket in the top right corner.

RESULTS

Friday 10 June

Tuggeranong United 0 Canberra Olympic 6 (Miro 22’, 52’, 60’, Thornton 36’, Gurney 45’, McAvoy 58’ (og))
Sunday 12 June

Wagga City Wanderers 1 (Mitchell 72’) Canberra Croatia 6 (Palombi 30’, 80’, Berkeley 49’, 57’, 78’, Birnie 76’)

Gungahlin United 0 Belconnen United 1 (Backhouse 33’)

Canberra United Academy 1 (Hindmarsh 47’) West Canberra Wanderers 1 (Whitfield 73’)

TABLE

		P	W	D	L	GD	PTS
1	Canberra Croatia	9	8	1	0	+46	25
2	Canberra Olympic	9	7	2	0	+40	23
3	West Canberra Wanderers	9	6	1	2	0	19
4	Belconnen United	9	6	0	3	+20	18
5	Canberra United Academy	9	3	1	5	-6	10
6	Gungahlin United	9	1	2	5	-10	5
7	Tuggeranong United	9	1	1	7	-26	4
8	Wagga City Wanderers	9	0	0	9	-64	0

 

Words: Jeremy Magan