Canberra Olympic extended their winning streak to three in the first match of Round 11 in the National Premier League Women’s, after a comfortable 7-0 victory over Majura FC at O’Connor Enclosed.
The home side made a fast start to the match for the third game running, bagging a goal inside the first minute after an Ella Brown cross from deep found an unmarked Tehya Aspland to open the scoring into an empty net.
Just as she did in the reverse fixture, Alyse Jensen produced a stunning long-range strike for Olympic to make it two inside 14 minutes, before Tatum Mazis continued her good form with a superb solo goal, to make it three heading into half time.
Frank Cachia’s team continued their attacking momentum into the second half and grabbed a fourth after just five second half minutes, as Jensen struck another long-range effort into the top corner, adding another stunner to her already impressive goal catalogue.
Majura had no response to the quality of Olympic in the final third, as another Aspland goal directly from a corner, Liana Alves finding the back of the net from well outside the penalty area, and Tianah Miro dancing through the defence and finishing clinically, rounded the goal tally to seven, and maintained Olympic’s placing at second on the NPLW table.
Over at a blustery Gungahlin Enclosed a late first-half sending off for Gungahlin United contributed to an 11th win from 11 in the NPLW for Belconnen United, after they won 2-0 away from home.
Marcial Munoz’s team did superbly to keep the freest scoring side in the league at bay, and rightly went into half time at 0-0, after standout defending from the backline, and young goalkeeper Hannah Ferguson between the posts.
Despite their defensive showing, the lack of opportunities in the final third always made three points look unlikely for the Gunners, particularly without the likes of Ginger Oliver and Bonnie Young, and Ayla Robertson’s sending off on 42 minutes, having dragged back Pearl Tein who was in on goal, didn’t help the odds.
Belconnen, despite unusually being unable to finish off their chances, eventually saw their quality shine through, capitalising on two quickfire chances early in the second half, first through Talia Backhouse, and then just a minute later through Keira Bobbin.
Overall, the Blue Devils had more of the opportunities, even with their opponents fielding 11, and rightfully took away another three points despite a positive showing from Gungahlin.
The final match of the round saw a Brittany Palombi-inspired Canberra Croatia claim a statement 6-1 victory over top four rivals West Canberra Wanderers away from home at Melrose Synthetic.
The forward was involved in everything good for Musie Elongo’s team in the final third, and got started almost immediately, firing an effort past Imogen Badham to make it 1-0, after just four minutes.
Palombi was at it again after 21 minutes, dipping a trademark free-kick past the Wanderers goalkeeper, before setting up Sofia Merkoureas from a corner kick, and promptly striking a second free-kick of the match into the back of the net, all the while completing her first-half hat-trick, and rounding the scoreline to 4-0.
With Croatia making the most of their set pieces in the opening 45, West Canberra responded with one of their own to start the second period, as Perry Nash volleyed an effort, via a significant deflection off Michaela Thornton into the back of the net, following a corner after 49 minutes.
The response from their opponents was rapid however, and again it was Palombi with a significant involvement, supplying the assist for Jamie Berkeley, who finished superbly from a difficult angle, before her cross led to Bella Barac receiving the ball from a goalkeeping error, and finishing clinically to kill off the game, and ensure a vital three points for Croatia.
RESULTS
ROUND 11
Sunday 29 June
Gungahlin United 0 Belconnen United 2 (Backhouse 47’, Bobbin 48’)
West Canberra Wanderers 1 (Nash 50’) Canberra Croatia 6 (Palombi 4’, 21’, 45’, Merkoureas 35’, Berkeley 56’, Barac 64’)
Canberra Olympic 7 (Aspland 1’, 53’, Jensen 14’, 50’, Alves 61’, Miro 77’) Majura FC 0
TABLE
| P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | PTS | ||
| 1 | Belconnen United | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 77 | 8 | +69 | 33 |
| 2 | Canberra Olympic | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 36 | 19 | +17 | 21 |
| 3 | Canberra Croatia | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 29 | 13 | +16 | 19 |
| 4 | Gungahlin United | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 41 | 16 | +25 | 17 |
| 5 | West Canberra | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 30 | 20 | +10 | 16 |
| 6 | Majura FC | 9 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 7 | 41 | -34 | 3 |
| 7 | Tuggeranong United | 9 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 67 | -61 | 3 |
| 8 | ANU WFC | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 42 | -42 | 0 |
TOP SCORERS
15: Keira BOBBIN (Belconnen United)
13: Tamara COCHRANE (West Canberra Wanderers)
11: Alyssa DI-CAMPLI (Belconnen United)
10: Bonnie YOUNG (Gungahlin United)
9: Megan CASTLE (Gungahlin United), Anneke CORRY (Belconnen United)
7: Jamie BERKELEY (Canberra Croatia), Ginger OLIVER (Gungahlin United)
6: Liliana ALTAMORE (Belconnen United), Natalie DE MARCO (Gungahlin United), Pearl TEIN (Belconnen United), Own GOALS
5: Zoe HALPIN (West Canberra Wanderers), Alyse JENSEN (Canberra Olympic), Tatum MAZIS (Canberra Olympic), Brittany PALOMBI (Canberra Croatia), Bronte PYKE (Belconnen United), Alina ROBERTS (Belconnen United)
4: Ella BROWN (Canberra Olympic), Sharon CHAO (Gungahlin United), Alexandra GIDIS (West Canberra Wanderers), Carmel LYNCH (Majura FC), Perri NASH (West Canberra Wanderers)
3: Tehya ASPLAND (Canberra Olympic), Talia BACKHOUSE (Belconnen United), Isabella BARAC (Canberra Croatia), Tia BURRIDGE (Canberra Olympic), Leah CARNEGIE (Canberra Olympic), Alex MARTENS (Belconnen United), Sofia MERKOUREAS (Canberra Croatia)
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), 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), Lisa CARY (Belconnen United), Stella DE MARCO (Gungahlin United), Elvein IBRAHIM (West Canberra Wanderers), Mollie JONSSON (Tuggeranong United), Claire KENNEDY-SPENCER (Tuggeranong United), Tarah MANTHONGSY (Tuggeranong United), Sofia MARTINIELO (Majura FC), Audrey MCLAREN (West Canberra Wanderers), Jessica MITCHELL (Tuggeranong United), Abigail MOSS (West Canberra Wanderers), 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), Darby WHITELEY (Gungahlin United), Reilly YUEN (Canberra Croatia)
TOP ASSISTS
10: Keira BOBBIN (Belconnen United)
8: Isabella BARAC (Canberra Croatia)
7: Anneke CORRY (Belconnen United), Alina ROBERTS (Belconnen United), Bonnie YOUNG (Gungahlin United)
6: Ella BROWN (Canberra Olympic), Audrey WARD (West Canberra Wanderers)
5: Isabella HINDMARSH (Belconnen United), Alex MARTENS (Belconnen United)
4: Natalie DE MARCO (Gungahlin United), Stella DE MARCO (Gungahlin United), Alyssa DI-CAMPLI (Belconnen United), Ginger OLIVER (Gungahlin United), Pearl TEIN (Belconnen United)
3: 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), Brittany PALOMBI (Canberra Croatia), Bronte PYKE (Belconnen United)
2: Tehya ASPLAND (Canberra Olympic), Talia BACKHOUSE (Belconnen United), Arusha CHEW (Canberra Croatia), Alyse JENSEN (Canberra Olympic), Alexandra GIDIS (West Canberra Wanderers), Chelsea HATELY (Gungahlin United), Jada LAMOND (Gungahlin United), Amy MOORE (Gungahlin United), Abigail RICHARDS (Majura FC), Madison SAWKINS (Belconnen United), 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), Tiana BOOTS (Canberra Croatia), 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), Olivia HICKS (West Canberra Wanderers, Ariana KASHAN (Majura FC), Claire KENNEDY-SPENCER (Tuggeranong United), Stefi LEJINS (Belconnen United), Tarah MANTHONGSY (Tuggeranong United), Olivia MARTINIELLO (Majura FC), Ailish MCDONAGH (Belconnen United), Demi NIKIAS (West Canberra Wanderers), Stephenie NIKIAS (West Canberra Wanderers), 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
