By Ryan Miller-Woods 9/3/24
Both Canberra United and Western Sydney Wanderers shared the points with a 1-1 draw at McKellar Park. Michelle Heyman’s 150th match for United saw late drama and a result that for Canberra’s finals aspirations would be seen as a missed opportunity.
Photo by Canberra United
Early on in proceedings, there were two moments where Western Sydney intercepted the ball from the Canberra defence that almost saw them capitalise. Luckily for United they didn’t concede but it felt like a matter of time before the Wanderers would score.
In the eighth minute, the Wanderers almost scored from a cross into the box that forced Canberra’s goalkeeper Coco Majstorovic into a save. The ball fell to Olivia Price whose first-time shot went over the bar.
As the half progressed towards the 20-minute mark, the more that Canberra got themselves into the match in terms of their build-ups in play and looked less shakey at the back.
In the 32nd minute, Amy Chessari came relatively close to scoring from outside the box, but her shot just went over the bar.
Three minutes later, the Wanderers came close to opening the scoring as Amy Harrison provided a great pass into the box that allowed Ella Buchanan to have a one-on-one with Majstorovic.
The goalkeeper was able to extend her leg to block Buchanan’s shot. Western Sydney really looked dangerous in attack with this chance created being no exception.
In the 37th minute, Western Sydney thought they’d opened the scoring from a free kick by Harrison. She found Sophie Harding in the box who slotted the ball through for Vicky Bruce to put the ball into the back of the net but from an offside position.
Five minutes later, Canberra then came close to scoring. Heyman made a great run with the ball into the box but her shot found the side netting for what was Canberra’s first major chance in the match.
In the 57th minute, Canberra broke the deadlock. A free kick by Mary Stanic-Floody found Heyman in the box and she headed the ball into the path of Nicki Flannery who put the ball into the bottom left corner for her fourth goal of the season.
Overall, it was a great team play by United and most importantly fully capitalised on the opportunity they had in front of them.
Despite having gone a goal down, Western Sydney continued to be relentless in attack with the chances they kept creating but for the time being still weren’t able to find the back of the net.
In the second minute of stoppage time, Canberra came close to doubling their lead. Deven Jackson’s ball landed in the path of Ruby Nathan but her shot was stopped by Sham Khamis.
Five minutes later, when it looked set to be a win for Canberra, the Wanderers found their equaliser. Harding provided a ball for Morris who beat the United defence which allowed to be one-on-one with Majstorovic as she slotted the ball into the bottom right corner.
Absolute heartbreak for Canberra but for Western Sydney would have been a deserved goal given the amount of goalscoring opportunities they had made in the match.
Teams: Canberra United (4-2-4): Majstorovic, Jackson,Ilijoski, McKenzie, Christopherson, Stanic-Floody, Murray, Whittall, Heyman, Milivojevic, Flannery. Substitutes: Ritchie, Piazza, Rojas, Nathan, McNulty.
Scorers: Flannery 57’.
Western Sydney Wanderers (4-4-2): S.Khamis,McComasky, Bruce, Harrison, Keir, Buchanan, Price, Chessari, Matos, Rue, Harding. Substitutes: Collins, Caceres, Breier, Morris, Abdul-Massih.
Scorers: Morris 90+7’.
Referee: Bec Mackie.
Attendance: TBC
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