Western United 1-0 Adelaide
By Jonathon Hagger 21/1/24
Above: Jaclyn Sawicki (left) and Stacey Papadopoulos (right) combine to stop Adelaides Dylan Holmes.Photo: Western United.
The Western United teams first true ‘home game’ against Adelaide United was played on a warm Sunday afternoon in front of vocal home support at City Vista Recreation Reserve. A lovely 19 degrees and a beautiful prepared pitch, provided the perfect setting for a competitive football match.
The match started without much to note as being of great interest. Each team struggled to gain ascendancy over the other. Adelaide’s defensive structure held out repeated efforts by Western to create scoring opportunities. While at the other end of the pitch, Adelaide were unable to break through the strong lines of Westerns defenders thereby creating a stalemate. .
It was off the back of some beautiful midfield passing in the 25th minute that Westerns forward, Hieda, found herself in a position to shoot for goal. While Adelaide defenders were doing their best to close down the attack, ultimately it was the goalpost that saved the day as the ball ricocheted away from the goal before being safely dispatched out of play.
In an immediate counter offensive play, Adelaide player Mariah Lee found herself again in space in the right hand side. She coolly slotted a pass along the pitch into where an Adelaide forward should have been but with no one to receive the ball Western we’re easily able to shut down the danger.
In an absolutely brilliant moment of football magic, Dylan Holmes corner kick cleanly sailed into the Western goal. Mysteriously while Adelaide were celebrating the well deserved goal, it was waved off by the referee. The score line remained 0-0.
The 41st minute was the first real opportunity for either team to score from open play as Hodgson, of Adelaide, pounced on a through ball that placed her in space behind Westerns defenders and one on one with Hilary Beal, Westerns goalkeeper. Hodgsons shot was gracefully padded away by Beall.
Half time 0-0.
The half time break gave both teams the opportunity to reset and reevaluate their tactics. The first five minutes of the second half were played with much more vigour than the entire first half. Both Adelaide and United had shots on target however both teams goalkeepers were up to the challenge.
The first goal came in the 51st minute as Adelaide were unable to defend off a throw in which saw Hieda with the ball at her feet with a clear line of sight to the goal. Hieda easily directed the ball in the opposite direction that the Adelaide keeper was travelling. Western 1-0 Adelaide.
Going behind by a goal was the wake up call that fired up the Adelaide players. The passing became cleaner, players started connecting with each other better and a desire to win set in. However having a desire to score and actually achit aren’t the same thing. Westerns sustained pressure on the Adelaide backfield stifled any momentum they were trying to generate.
The 80th minute was lit up by a wonderful offensive surge by Adelaide with Hodgson delivering a cross to Dawber who ran the perfect line into open space in the Western goal area. Western were thanking their lucky stars as their star goalkeeper, Beall, managed to stop Dawber’s shot and managed to not to give away a penalty.
The game concluded after five minutes of extra time with Western United securing a 1-0 win. Even though Adelaide dominated the game statistically, it was their inability to execute when in scoring positions that ultimately cost them the match.
What we learned –
- Western United are not the dominant team that they were in 2023 however they are not to be underestimated. Sitting third on the A-League table they will likely be finals contenders,
- Depaige Adelaide having only a few wins so far this season meaning they’re sitting at the bottom of the table, they’re a team who can test all the best teams.
Teams:
Western United: Beall (GK), Vlajnic, Maher, Cerne, Papadopoulos, Taranto, Roberts, Taranto, Hieda, Logarzo, Demis-Sawicki. Substitutes: Dakic, Dall’Oste, Keane, Prakash, Sardo.
Scorer: Hieda 52’
Adelaide United: Grove (GK), Tolland, Tonkin, Waldus, Hodgson, Holmes, Sasaki, Blake, Dawber, Lee, Hodgson. Substitutes: Wilson, Holtz, Jancevski, Morgan, Mullan.
Referee: Bec Mackie
Attendance: TBC.
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