Adelaide United 2-1 Sydney FC
by Ben Gilby (18/4/25)
Above: Adelaide United’s two-goal hero Fiona Worts (red shirt) battles away against Sydney FC today. Photo: Adelaide United.
Two goals from Fiona Worts against her former club ensured that Adelaide United came from behind to end Sydney FC’s unbeaten run and go into their home Elimination Final next weekend on a high.
Conversely, Sydney FC ended their disappointing season with a result that encapsulated their failure to play Finals football for the first time in the league’s 17-year history. Those two strikes from Worts cancelled out Maddie Caspers’ opener for the visitors, which ensured that Ante Juric’s side ended the campaign having lost a potential 13 points from winning positions.
Adelaide, guaranteed to finish in third place and claim a home Elimination Final next weekend, regardless of what happened in this encounter earned the first chance in this match, with just three minutes played.
Fiona Worts was played in and ran towards the by-line on the right-hand flank before finding Lucia León behind her who played in a first time ball high for Dylan Holmes, who was unmarked in the centre of the box and directed a header towards the bottom corner of the net, but was denied by a super save by Jasmine Black.
Sydney responded 10 minutes later when Maddie Caspers used her strength to win turnover ball from Nanako Sasaki, and advanced into the right-hand edge of the box before hitting a shot that Claudia Jenkins repelled with a spectacular diving save before her defence cleared.
However, with 20 minutes played, Caspers had better luck. An excellent move on the left-hand flank, which started inside their own half with Abbey Lemon combining with Princess Ibini before the latter found Amber Luchtmeijer who threaded a centimetre-perfect low crossfield pass that dissected the Adelaide midfield and defence for Mackenzie Hawkesby to supply the pass between Zoe Tolland and Ella Tonkin for Caspers to take a touch sweep home from 10 yards in a central position.
Back came the Reds, and six minutes later, a piece of individual magic from Worts almost levelled the scores. León headed the ball towards the English striker, who had her back to goal, around 25 yards out. Despite being tightly marked by two players, Worts gained control and used her skill to break clear, turn and fire a rocket of a shot just wide of the right-hand post.
Adelaide conjured up several further chances in the last 10 minutes of the half. Black was called upon to deny Holmes twice more, first from a shot in the box, and then from long range. Also in this spell, Worts’ goal-bound shot was cleared by Jordan Thompson.
Finally, the home side got their equaliser, a minute into stoppage time at the end of the first half. Sydney were on the attack, but Emily Hodgson snaffled up possession for Adelaide on the edge of her own box and supplied a pass to Sarah Morgan, positioned centrally inside her own half.
Morgan, in turn, played a long ball through to Worts. The striker’s first touch, which enabled her to beat the only player near her, Nat Tobin, was sublime, and allowed her to side-foot with aplomb into the bottom right-hand corner.
The home side continued to create the bulk of the half-chances in the second half, with Emily Hodgson, Tonkin, and Sian Dewey being denied in the opening 20 minutes.
Sydney opportunities were much fewer and further between, with Ibini seeing an effort blocked by Dewey with 68 played.
Adelaide, dominant in possession, finally hit the front with just under a quarter of an hour to play. Healy found fellow substitute Tiarna Karambasis in the middle of the park to release León on the right flank to turn a low ball into the near post, where Worts showed all her poacher’s instinct to side foot home.
The margin of victory could have been greater five minutes later when Black denied Worts her hat-trick in some style. Receiving the ball on the far side of the 18-yard box, the striker fired in a first-time volley that needed a diving save to push the ball away.
Thompson also made another potential goal-saving block in the final stages when the defender ensured that Healy’s effort didn’t hit the back of the net.
Sydney had two golden opportunities to claim a point in stoppage time at the end of the 90 minutes when Luchtmeijer was fed in the box by Faye Bryson, but the youngster put her shot wide of the right-hand post. Ibini’s effort was also repelled by Jenkins.
Adelaide United go into only their second Finals campaign in a confident mood. Whoever ends up travelling to Coopers Stadium will be real underdogs against the Reds.
Teams: ADELAIDE UNITED (3-4-3): Jenkins, Tolland, McNamara, Tonkin, Holmes, Sasaki, León, E.Hodgson, Condon, Morgan, Worts. Substitutes: Dewey, Healy, I.Hodgson, Karambasis, Melegh.
Scorers: Worts 45+1′, 76′.
SYDNEY FC (4-1-4-1): Black, Lemon, Tobin, Thompson, Sullivan, Bryson, Ibini, Hawkesby, dos Santos, Caspers, Luchtmeijer. Substitutes: Fenton, Connors, Johnson, Mason-Jones, Tumeth.
Scorers: Caspers 20′.
Referee: Page Malau-Aduli.
Attendance: 3,527.
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