Canberra United 3-1 Melbourne City
By Kieran Yap 4/2/24
Above: Laura Hughes (Left) battles for possession with Canberra United’s Sarah Clarke. Photo: Canberra United
A determined defensive display and Michelle Heyman at her best delivered Canberra United a 3-1 win against Melbourne City at Mckellar Park.
From a glance at the table, this match between the first and last placed teamed in the league was not the most eye catching fixture. But these were the two highest scoring sides, with the moster entertaining attacks. Canberra United’s season has not been smooth sailing, but for neutrals, every match delivers goals and with Heyman leading the line, there is always reason to hope for a result.
Melbourne City arrived in the capital with a disrupted lead up to the match. Versatile fullback Kaitlyn Torpey was absent as she finalized a move overseas, and Melissa Barbieri stepped in to replace Lysianne Proulx who was also completing a transfer. Dario Vidosic was already missing Julia Grosso and was forced into a reshuffle, although it would be impossible to replicate that pace of Grosso and Torpey on both flanks.
The result was Karly Roestbakken starting against the side where she played her youth football, and a front three that was well stocked in creativity but lacking in out and out line breaking speed.
Canberra’s defence sat deep and counterattacked at pace. Nikki Flannery had the first good chance of the game in the 30th minute. She was put through on goal by Heyman but fired her shot straight at Barbieri from close range. City continued to dominate possession and knock the ball around their final third, but could not find a way past the Canberra United back four with Teagan Bertolissio and Sasha Grove both brilliant on the flanks. In the middle Sarah Clarke and Cannon Clough made space and time a scarcity for Hannah Wilkinson and Rhianna Pollicina.
Canberra broke the deadlock twice before half time. A long ball from defence was latched onto by Heyman. The star striker disposed of her first maker with a clever turn of the body, and then nodded the ball beyond the next defender. She was in space but there was still 30 yards between her and the goal. With the City defence rushing back, Heyman paused, cut inside and delayed her shot before slotting it beyond Barbieri to make it 1-0.
That lead was doubled on the 39th minute. A Flannery cutback on the right was met by Mary Stanic-Floody. The playmaker did not hesitate to pull the trigger and her effort flew into the back of the net from the edge of the box. Canberra went into the break 2-0 up and relishing the contest.
With City in the unfamiliar position of having to chase the game, Dario Vidosic made the changes. Kiera Myers, Tijan Mckenna and Bryleeh Henry were all introduced, but Canberra were still able to absorb the pressure no matter who was on the pitch, Myers was creative on the right, but the attack still lacked a cutting edge, and while Henry provided some spark on the opposite wing, she was often too far away from goal to test Chloe Lincoln, although the came close on a couple of opportunities.
With Wilkinson missing on international duty next week a move of Henry into the number nine role might be an option for Vidosic to explore.
Canberra effectively sealed the contest with a third goal in the second half. Henry was about to send City into attack again, but Grove somehow dashed back and took possession cleanly. She played the pass quickly to Vesna Milivojevic and the ball was launched upfield towards Heyman.
The Canberra captain was unable to get the shot away herself, but a combination of passes with Deven Jackson ended with a cross to the far post where Flannery was able to tap home.
City pulled a late goal back when Taylor Otto forced the ball over from close range but were unable to find the crucial next goal to make the home crowd nervous. The match ended 3-1 and although neither side’s ladder position changed, it was a huge result for Canberra United.
They are not out of contention for a finals spot, and seemed to have found a combination of personnel that work well together and a game plan that suits them. On this occasion, Canberra United’s strengths matched up with City’s weaknesses to devastating effect and not every team will be as susceptible to counter attacks, but this will be a huge confidence boost for Njegosh Popovich.
Lineups:
Canberra United 4-4-1-1: Lincoln, Grove, Clough, Clarke, Bertolissio, Jackson, Mckenzie, Stanic-Floody, Flannery. Substitutes: Murray, Rojas, Nathan, Christopherson, Majstorovic.
Scorers: Heyman 30, Stanic-Floody 39’ Flannery 74’
Melbourne City 4-2-2-2: Barbieri, Chinnama, Stott, Otto, Roestbakken, Hughes, L Mckenna, Ekic, Galic, Pollicina, Wilkinson. Substitutes: Meyers, Davidson, T Mckenna, Henry, Varley
Scorer: Taylor Otto 91’
Referee: Bec Mackie
Attendance: TBC
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