The 13th round of the National Premier League Women’s saw a league classic take place at Melrose Synthetic, as West Canberra Wanderers went close to completing a famous comeback against Gungahlin United, but ultimately went down 4-3.
It was the Gunners who made the better start to the match and deservedly went ahead after just thirteen minutes through Darby Whiteley, following a corner kick routine that capped off a start to the contest in which the away side consistently threatened from set pieces.
It was another dead ball situation that extended their lead seventeen minutes later, as Ginger Oliver rocketed a free-kick from long-range past Ellen Brown and into the top corner, having gone close from a similar distance just moments before.
Having performed well in the first half, a third for Gungahlin on the cusp of half-time would’ve minimised expectations of a comeback for many, however the Wanderers still believed, and came out flying in the second period, bringing it back to 3-2 within just eight minutes of the restart through an Ayla Robertson Own Goal, and Tamara Cochrane.
Fueled by determination to get back into the game, waves of West Canberra attacks continued, and on 61 minutes the home side were level, as Cochrane grabbed her second of the game, this time flying in at the back post following a sensational Olivia Hicks free-kick.
The quality of Gungahlin in the final third proved to be the difference in the end however, as Darby Whiteley finished off one of a number of clear-cut chances towards the end of the match for the away side, who did superbly to react from losing their lead.
Over at Deakin Stadium Canberra Croatia put eight past Tuggeranong United in what turned out to be a comfortable home victory, to maintain the side’s place in the top four of the NPLW.
A 12th minute goal from Brittany Palombi established the pattern of much of the match early on, as the forward remained influential in everything good for Musie Elongo’s team going forward for the duration of the contest.
Palombi followed up her first with three more inside the opening 35 minutes, after two quality finishes and one stunning long-range effort, which took Croatia four clear heading into the half time break.
The second period followed a similar tale to the first, as Saskia Newman, April Hill and Hannah Bourke all scored their first goals for the club, before Jamie Berkeley put the final nail in the coffin with a stunning eighth for her team, to altogether cap off another dominant half.
The final match of the round saw Belconnen United put seven past Majura FC at McKellar Park, claiming a twelfth win from twelve despite an early scare against the league’s sixth-place team.
With a 12-point lead at the top of the table, it would be easy for the Blue Devils to take their foot off the pedal, however a sixth-minute strike from Bronte Pyke told a different story, as once again the table-toppers looked hungry for goals.
Majura responded superbly however, moving the ball effectively from back to front, where Carmel Lynch provided a killer pass to play in Olivia Martiniello, who remained determined and scored on her second attempt to make it 1-1.
The away side did well to hold out Belconnen for much of the first half, however with just over ten minutes left of the 45, a three-goal flurry had them 4-1 up heading into the break, after Talia Backhouse put them back in front, followed by a Keira Bobbin stunner and penalty.
Despite the fight from Davide Ruberto’s team, the Blue Devils deserved their lead after a dominant first half overall, and that trend continued into the second as Anneke Corry made it five with a brilliantly placed low finish.
A further two goals from Alyssa Di-Campli off the bench compounded Majura’s misery, and rounded the total to seven, to continue Belconnen’s progression towards an early title celebration.
The scheduled midweek match between Tuggeranong United and Majura FC fell victim to the weather for a second time this season. The Kamba 2 pitch was deemed unplayable after heavy rain earlier in the week.
There was a game on Thursday though as West Canberra Wanderers stunned Canberra Olympic with a consummate performance on the synthetic field over at Hawker Football Centre, coming away with a thoroughly deserved 3-1 success.
The visiting team was in front in the 28th minute when Alexandra Gidis played a superbly weighted ball into the path of midfielder Audrey Ward, and she guided it expertly past Janet King from the angle and into the net.
Olympic responded before half-time via a well-taken penalty from Ella Brown, but Wanderers restored their lead in the 64th minute when Gidis pounced on a defensive error, latching onto an under hit back pass to fire home past an exposed King to the glee of the Wanderers support.
West Canberra was to seal the points with eighteen minutes remaining. Gidis broke the high offside trap to advance on goal, her shot stinging the palms of King and rebounding straight to Tamara Cochrane, and the Golden Boot chaser blasted home her fourteenth goal of the season to secure the win.
RESULTS
ROUND 7
Tuesday 8 July
Tuggeranong United v Majura FC – Match Postponed
ROUND 12
Thursday 10 July
Canberra Olympic 1 (Brown 41’ (p)) West Canberra Wanderers 3 (Ward 28’, Gidis 64’, Cochrane 72’)
ROUND 13
Sunday 13 July
Canberra Croatia 8 (Palombi 12’, 27’, 33’, 35’, Newman 55’, Hill 64’, Bourke 75’, Berkeley 90+3’) Tuggeranong United 0
Belconnen United 7 (Pyke 6’, Backhouse 34’, Bobbin 37’, 40’ (p), Corry 63’, Di-Campli 73’, 90’) Majura FC 1 (Martiniello 10’)
West Canberra Wanderers 3 (Robertson 52’ (og), Cochrane 53’, 61’) Gungahlin United 4 (Whiteley 13’, 74’, Oliver 30’, Castle 44’)
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Belconnen United | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 84 | 9 | +75 | 36 |
| 2 | Canberra Croatia | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 37 | 13 | +24 | 22 |
| 3 | Canberra Olympic | 11 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 37 | 22 | +15 | 21 |
| 4 | Gungahlin United | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 45 | 19 | +26 | 20 |
| 5 | West Canberra | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 36 | 25 | +11 | 19 |
| 6 | Majura FC | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 8 | 48 | -40 | 3 |
| 7 | Tuggeranong United | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 75 | -69 | 3 |
| 8 | ANU WFC | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 42 | -42 | 0 |
TOP SCORERS
17: Keira BOBBIN (Belconnen United)
16: Tamara COCHRANE (West Canberra Wanderers)
13: Alyssa DI-CAMPLI (Belconnen United)
10: Megan CASTLE (Gungahlin United), Anneke CORRY (Belconnen United), Bonnie YOUNG (Gungahlin United)
9: Brittany PALOMBI (Canberra Croatia)
8: Jamie BERKELEY (Canberra Croatia), Ginger OLIVER (Gungahlin United)
7: Own GOALS
6: Liliana ALTAMORE (Belconnen United), Natalie DE MARCO (Gungahlin United), Bronte PYKE (Belconnen United), Pearl TEIN (Belconnen United)
5: Ella BROWN (Canberra Olympic), Alexandra GIDIS (West Canberra Wanderers), Zoe HALPIN (West Canberra Wanderers), Alyse JENSEN (Canberra Olympic), Tatum MAZIS (Canberra Olympic), Alina ROBERTS (Belconnen United)
4: Talia BACKHOUSE (Belconnen United), Sharon CHAO (Gungahlin United), Carmel LYNCH (Majura FC), Perri NASH (West Canberra Wanderers)
3: Tehya ASPLAND (Canberra Olympic), Isabella BARAC (Canberra Croatia), Tia BURRIDGE (Canberra Olympic), Leah CARNEGIE (Canberra Olympic), Alex MARTENS (Belconnen United), Sofia MERKOUREAS (Canberra Croatia), Darby WHITELEY (Gungahlin United)
2: Acacia ARGENTO (Tuggeranong United), Leila BILLINGTON (Belconnen United), Madison CACHIA (Canberra Olympic), Arusha CHEW (Canberra Croatia), Sofia FURLANETTO (Majura FC), Isabella HINDMARSH (Belconnen United), Olivia MARTINIELO (Majura FC), Ailish MCDONAGH (Belconnen United), Riley MCQUEENIE (Canberra Croatia), Tianah MIRO (Canberra Olympic), Katrina PERIC (Canberra Olympic), Nikita PERRY (Canberra Olympic), Ellie RAYMOND (Canberra Croatia), Michaela THORNTON (Canberra Croatia)
1: Elke AITOLU (Canberra Olympic), Liana ALVES (Canberra Olympic), Angelina BABIC (Canberra Croatia), Sienna BIRNIE (Canberra Olympic), Hannah BOURLE (Canberra Croatia), Lisa CARY (Belconnen United), Stella DE MARCO (Gungahlin United), April HILL (Canberra Croatia), Elvein IBRAHIM (West Canberra Wanderers), Mollie JONSSON (Tuggeranong United), Claire KENNEDY-SPENCER (Tuggeranong United), Tarah MANTHONGSY (Tuggeranong United), Audrey MCLAREN (West Canberra Wanderers), Jessica MITCHELL (Tuggeranong United), Abigail MOSS (West Canberra Wanderers), Saskia NEWMAN (Canberra Croatia), Eliza-Jane NORRIS (Canberra Croatia), Madeliene PERCEVAL (Gungahlin United), Lauren PRESTON (Belconnen United), Maddison SAWKINS (Belconnen United), Maddie STEINACKER (Belconnen United), Rachel VAN AALST (Gungahlin United), Audrey WARD (West Canberra Wanderers), Reilly YUEN (Canberra Croatia)
TOP ASSISTS
10: Keira BOBBIN (Belconnen United)
8: Isabella BARAC (Canberra Croatia), Alina ROBERTS (Belconnen United)
7: Anneke CORRY (Belconnen United), Bonnie YOUNG (Gungahlin United)
6: Ella BROWN (Canberra Olympic), Brittany PALOMBI (Canberra Croatia), Audrey WARD (West Canberra Wanderers)
5: Natalie DE MARCO (Gungahlin United), Alexandra GIDIS (West Canberra Wanderers), Isabella HINDMARSH (Belconnen United), Alex MARTENS (Belconnen United), TEIN (Belconnen United)
4: Stella DE MARCO (Gungahlin United), Alyssa DI-CAMPLI (Belconnen United), Ginger OLIVER (Gungahlin United)
3: Talia BACKHOUSE (Belconnen United), Madison CACHIA (Canberra Olympic), Megan CASTLE (Gungahlin United), Tamara COCHRANE (West Canberra Wanderers), Zoe HALPIN (West Canberra Wanderers), Tatum MAZIS (Canberra Olympic), Tianah MIRO (Canberra Olympic), Perri NASH (West Canberra Wanderers), Bronte PYKE (Belconnen United), Madison SAWKINS (Belconnen United)
2: Tehya ASPLAND (Canberra Olympic), Tiana BOOTS (Canberra Croatia), Arusha CHEW (Canberra Croatia), Alyse JENSEN (Canberra Olympic), Chelsea HATELY (Gungahlin United), Olivia HICKS (West Canberra Wanderers), April HILL (Canberra Croatia), Jada LAMOND (Gungahlin United), Carmel LYNCH (Majura FC), Ailish MCDONAGH (Belconnen United), Amy MOORE (Gungahlin United), Abigail RICHARDS (Majura FC), Michaela THORNTON (Canberra Croatia), Rachel VAN AALST (Gungahlin United), Darby WHITELEY (Gungahlin United)
1: Elke AITOLU (Canberra Olympic), Esperance ANDERSON (Tuggeranong United), Eliza BAKER (Majura FC), Leila BILLINGTON (Belconnen United), Jamie BERKLEY (Canberra Croatia), Sienna BIRNIE (Canberra Olympic), Tia BURRIDGE (Canberra Olympic), Olivia BUYTEWEG (Gungahlin United), Lena CHRISTOPHERSON (Tuggeranong United), Lucy D’ARCY (Gungahlin United), Rhiannon DAVIS (Canberra Olympic), Annaliese GROVE (Gungahlin United), Ariana KASHAN (Majura FC), Claire KENNEDY-SPENCER (Tuggeranong United), Stefi LEJINS (Belconnen United), Tarah MANTHONGSY (Tuggeranong United), Olivia MARTINIELLO (Majura FC), Riley MCQUEENIE (Canberra Croatia), Demi NIKIAS (West Canberra Wanderers), Stephenie NIKIAS (West Canberra Wanderers), Madeliene PERCEVAL (Gungahlin United), Nikita PERRY (Canberra Olympic), Lauren PRESTON (Belconnen United), Ariana RATHOUSKI (Belconnen United), Juliana ROBERTSON (West Canberra Wanderers), Madeleine STEINACKER (Belconnen United), Allegra SENTI (West Canberra Wanderers), Ivy STEVENS (Gungahlin United), Sonja TOMANOVITS (West Canberra Wanderers), Jane VANZINO (Canberra Olympic)
Words: Sam Watson
