Sydney FC 1–4 Brisbane Roar

Report and EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS from Kris Goman.

Sydney FC’s one hundred percent winning start to the season came to a stunning halt after they were swept aside by Brisbane Roar in the battle of the only unbeaten sides in the W-League.

After their recent win over Canberra United, yesterday saw another top of the table clash for Sydney, as their defeats of other teams change who is in second place on the table. Sydney had been looking unstoppable but if anyone was going to stop them, it was be Brisbane and this match was very telling.

Brisbane outplayed them on the day. They clearly wanted it more. They were faster, they were getting in front, their attack was more focussed and their defence almost impenetrable. I felt that the Roar didn’t deserve to win against the Wanderers last time out but they had Sydney’s mark yesterday. Sydney tried to win on reputation alone and it wasn’t enough. I’d also question the nature and timing of the substitutions.

Sydney started strong with a hard press for the first ten minutes with their 4-1-2-3 formation providing the necessary firepower up front.

Brisbane kicked off with their 4-3-3 formation but the ball stayed deep in their territory. Initially anyway. Princess Ibini gets an early shot on goal from the left that wakes Morgan Aquino up and causes a good save. Not that she was asleep but she knows she’s living now. There’s a couple of corners and the goal area is busy.
First transition is at five minutes and results in a goal kick.

Second transition is at seven minutes and results in a goal. Olivia Chance brings it down the left and passes to Emily Gielnik in front of her. Gielnik puts a perfect one touch cross direct to Tameka Yallop’s head in front of goal, a quick nod by Yallop and it’s in the back of the net for Yallop’s second goal of the season.

The pressure is on Sydney to reply now and they retaliate by attacking on the right through Cortnee Vine and Angelique Hristodoulou. They get a corner which gets headed around but then captured by Aquino.

Sydney continues to push and the ball goes back to Aquino for safety. She controls it but Clare Wheeler is approaching quickly. As Aquino clears it, Wheeler is on top of her and the ball rebounds off of the Roar player into goal for the equaliser. It’s a bad mistake by Aquino. It’s Wheeler’s first W-league goal after 72 games and the excitement is obvious as she celebrates with her teammates.

We’re twelve minutes in now and this is where things start to fall apart for Sydney. Brisbane ramp it up and Sydney rest on their laurels.

Three minutes later, Yallop makes inroads on the right for Brisbane. She releases Mariel Hecher down the right of the box. Her cross is punched to the left by Jada Mathyssen-Whyman directly to Jamilla Rankin who just taps the volley past the keeper. Two goalkeeper mistakes leading to two goals in quick succession. It’s also Rankin’s first W-League goal at only seventeen years of age. There’s been a lot of that this season.

Brisbane are invigorated now. Sydney get a couple of corners but the Queenslanders defence is solid. On the counter attack, Gielnik gets away down the left and sends a pass forward to Leticia McKenna. She tries to cross to Hecher but Ally Green intercepts with a sliding tackle and stops a certain goal. The resulting corner is eventually cleared after two waves of attacks.

Brisbane embark on a number of penetrating attacks resulting in a couple of corners. Sydney’s defence holds strong but they are very much on the back foot now and looking unstable. Brisbane are controlling the game and it’s being played in their attacking half. Sydney are looking disorganised as Yallop brings a ball down the centre and drives for goal. Her shot from outside the box is deflected by Mathyssen-Whyman for a corner. It’s cleared but the Roar are straight back on the attack. Sydney get some possession but it’s nullified quickly and effectively by the Brisbane defence.

There’s a nice Brisbane play started by Hecher who cuts back a pass to Gielnik. Her cross is glanced away by Hristodoulou right in front of goal. Yallop and Hristodoulou chase the ball to the left and Hristodoulou wins the battle to eventually clear the ball. It comes straight back into Yallop though but her shot is blocked out for a corner. Clare Polkinghorne heads the corner on top of the net which relieves the pressure.

Another Brisbane attack is saved by Green in the box. Late in the half, Sydney get a couple of corners but can’t make anything happen. After a minute of stoppage time, half time is called.

First few minutes of the second half see Sydney re-energised. Mackenzie Hawkesby kicks the ball straight into the referees bum and the resulting restart sees a long ball to the right corner chased by Wheeler. She evades Carroll and crosses to Ibini. She holds it up and draws the defenders and taps it across to Remy Siemsen but she mis-hits the ball and it goes out to the right of goal, in what was a very good chance.

The game swings again and Brisbane are back on the attack. Gielnik takes a long shot into the arms of Mathessen-Whyman. Another long ball in lands on Gielnik’s chest to bounce to the feet of McKenna. Her shot is deflected out by Natalie Tobin for a corner. The resulting ball in glances Polkinghorne’s head to go straight into goal for 3-1 at 54 minutes.

It constantly feels like Brisbane have more players on the field than Sydney, all there in defence and there in attack while Sydney are usually recovering or don’t have the numbers up front.

Charlotte Mclean gets a yellow card for a late tackle on Gielnik. The free kick is knocked out by Sydney so Brisbane get another corner. It goes to the far post and is eventually kicked out by Wheeler. Next corner is taken short and Hecher gets a shot that goes wide to the left. Not long after Yallop finds herself in the clear and takes a shot from outside the box that goes wide. The Brisbane attack is unrelenting.

At 63 minutes, Ibini is off and Charlize Rule, two days short of her eighteenth birthday comes on. It feels a bit of a risk to bring on a younger, less experienced player at this stage but Ibini wasn’t particularly effective anyway, however Sydney’s two main strikers, in Ibini and Siemsen, are now on the bench when Sydney need goals.

Wheeler gets a good run down the right but her cross is wasted by no one being there to capitalise on it.

Shortly after, Yallop directs a missile to Gielnik just by the goal mouth. It bounces off her chest but Whyman is able to clear it. Sydney are getting some attacking runs but they feel desperate and passes are going into empty spaces with no one to run onto them. Opportunities are being wasted and possession lost. At 73 minutes, there’s another strange substitution for Sydney when Cortnee Vine is off and Taylor Ray is on. At this point, I’m not convinced that taking the last experienced forward off is the right move. Although I’m not sure what could save this side right now.

At 78 minutes, a push by Chance is rewarded with a corner. It’s taken short and the cross by Rankin floats to the top near post and Whyman jumps up to grab it but instead pushes it back into the goal. Gielnik almost looks sorry for her but Rankin claims her second goal with eight minutes left.

Three minutes of stoppage time is announced as Brisbane continue their attack. Sydney manage to clear it each time but can’t keep possession. They aren’t passing it or playing out from the back, just doing big largely undirected clearances.

Full time is called and Sydney register their first loss of the season. Brisbane remain undefeated but still second on the table but narrowing the gap to Sydney although the Harbour City side have a game in hand.

Brisbane looked very strong today in producing probably their most convincing performance of the season and probably what we all expected based on what the team looks like on paper.

Jamilla Rankin got player of the match and it’s very well deserved. Two goals, incredible defending and kept Cortnee Vine under wraps. So many tackles. Well done.

Teams: Teams: SYDNEY FC: Mathyssen-Whyman, Hristodoulou, Green, Mclean, Tobin, Polias, Vine, Hawkesby, Wheeler, Ibini, Siemsen. Substitutes: Campbell (GK), Lowe, Ray, Rule, Toby.

Scorers: Wheeler 18.

BRISBANE ROAR: Aquino, Heatley, Rankin, Polkinghorne, Carroll, Yallop, Chance, Dalton, McKenna, Hecher, Gielnik. Substitutes: Zaffina (GK), Torpey, Horsey, Margraf, Freier.

Scorers: Yallop 8. Rankin 16, 82. Polkinghorne 54.

Referee: Lara Lee.

Attendance: 1,126.

Top four sides qualify for the finals at the end of the regular season.

Impetus’ coverage of Australian Women’s Football is supported by The Chicken Salt Co. They are offering every Impetus reader 5% off all orders of Chicken Salt from their website. Go to https://www.chickensalt.co.uk/?mate=impetus and place your order – 5% will automatically be taken off of the cost. The coupon code is impetus.

Western Sydney Wanderers 1–2 Brisbane Roar

Report and EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS from Kris Goman.

Brisbane Roar continued their seven match unbeaten start to the W-League season with a 2-1 win at Marconi Stadium against Western Sydney Wanderers.

The Queenslanders have travelled to the emerald city for a long weekend to play both Sydney teams. In the current climate it’s good to get these things done while you can, plus it probably saves on travel expenses and gives better rest between the games. So it’s a big win win for Brisbane before they even start playing.

Courtney Nevin isn’t playing tonight for the home side and isn’t a substitute either. Apparently coach Dean Heffernan is resting her this match and it’s her birthday tomorrow. This results in a reshuffle of the usual team and Yeoman-Dale has moved to left back from the forwards to replace her.

Georgina Worth is out for Brisbane with a knee issue and so Morgan Aquino is making her debut in goal for the Roar. Katrina Gorry is out and we won’t be seeing her playing again this year due to the happy reason of her being pregnant rather than having an injury. Although, like an ACL injury, it will probably take her out for a year so she won’t be going to the Olympics, opening a spot for a young contender.

Wanderers are kicking off playing in 4-3-3 formation and Brisbane are 4-4-2.

The match starts pretty rough with a few tackles sending various playing flying before Emily Gielnik takes a shot from the far left of the box that’s straight to Sarah Willacy.
Sarah Hunter, two goal hero for Wanderers in their last match seems to be being cheered on by the rest of her Year 12 cohort at Pymble Ladies College every time she gets the ball in this match. I guess a few more schoolmates have come along to support her after her stunning game last week. It’s great to see and adds to the atmosphere at Marconi.

Thirteen minutes in, Teigan Collister makes a break down the right for the Wanderers. Her cross is cleared back to Libby Copus-Brown who sends a lovely long ball through to Leena Khamis in the box in front of goal. She chips it to the top right of goal as two defenders arrive and it’s in for her long awaited first goal of the season as the Wanderers take an early lead.

Brisbane are immediately back on the attack and make a few excursions into the box including a corner that comes to naught. Then a cross comes over from the left and is punched out by Willacy. Isobel Dalton comes flying in from outside the box and sends a low one towards goal that lands at the feet of Emily Gielnik who turns and is able to put it to the top right bin of the goal for the equaliser just two and a half minutes later.

We’re up and down the field a few times with Collister continually making good runs down the right for Wanderers. At one stage Khamis takes a long range shot on goal but she puts far too much into it and it is on a trajectory to the moon rather than goal.

Similarly for the Roar, Mariel Hecher is making good inroads down their right, occasionally foiled by Georgia Yeoman-Dale. At one point Gielnik is at the top of the box and passes back to Olivia Chance who takes a lovely strike but it just clears the top post.

A fine pass back from Collister finds no one in a fairly empty box and a chance goes begging for the Wanderers.

Hecher then receives the ball just outside the box. Yeoman-Dale fronts up to her. She has one foot just inside the box. Hecher flicks the ball up to the right and it hits Yeoman-Dale’s hand and a penalty is awarded. Pretty bad luck on Yeo-Da’s part as there’s no way she could have avoided it and she was only just partially in the box. In fact whether her hand was in the box could be debated but it certainly did deflect the path of the ball.

Gielnik steps up to take the penalty with thirty-one minutes played. It’s a fairly slow shot but she sends Willacy to the right and the ball to the left so it’s in easy. As well as putting the Roar in front, this also puts Gielnik level with Canberra United’s Michelle Heyman in the race for the Golden Boot on six goals each.

Just a minute later, Gielnik gets the opportunity for another clear strike on goal but sends it quite wide to the right this time. Straight after, Tameka Yallop is on the ball and brings it down to the goal line. Her cross is brought down but she has it back almost immediately to take a shot but it’s also well wide to the right.

Wanderers get a corner and it comes in right in front of the box. Khamis jumps but doesn’t quite connect but it deflects off Kim Carroll’s lower shoulder. There are calls for a hand ball but in this case, I think the call is right.

Just before half time Jamilla Rankin sends a beautiful cross to the front of goal but it’s cleared safely by a Caitlin Cooper header then brought down the midfield by Julie Russell to pass for a similarly lovely cross by Collister. It goes to Khamis who draws Morgan Aquino and the ball is headed to the left in front of an open goal. Chloe Middleton rushes on to it but her volley can’t be controlled as defenders rush in and it goes up over the net to miss the equaliser.

Two minutes of extra time are announced. A Brisbane attack sees Middleton chop at Yallop and earn herself a yellow and a free kick for Brisbane at the top left of the box. Gielnik will take it, looking for her hat-trick no doubt. As expected, she goes for goal. It’s low and to the right but Willacy is all over it despite an unmarked Polkinghorne rushing onto her. The half time whistle goes and it’s looking pretty even after 45 minutes.

Early in the second half, Wanderers get into the box and Russell is on the left and open when she gets the ball from a cross from Danika Matos. Her shot is a half volley that goes high.

Ten minutes later, Russell gets another shot on goal as she brings it into the box, side stepping a couple of Brisbane players and shoots across the goal and it narrowly misses the top far corner.

Wanderers are immediately on the attack and Brisbane don’t clear it out when they regain possession. Hunter gets it across to Rosie Galea at the top of the box who shoots with some free space in front of her. It’s wide to the left but it looked dangerous and Wanderers are pressing hard right now.

It’s now Brisbane’s turn to attack and Yallop brings the ball through the midfield before passing to Chance on the left who crosses to the goal mouth. Kaitlyn Torpey comes in for it and both Yeoman-Dale and Willacy are there. Willacy gets above and punches it away safely but collects Torpey in her wake who goes down in front of goal. She’s back up after some treatment but it looked like a heavy fall.

Wanderers push again and it’s stuck in the right corner for a couple of throw-ins before Galea flicks it across to Khamis unmarked in the middle of the box. She turns and shoots but Aquino has it covered in some good goal keeping.

Wanderers seem to have the upper hand at the moment and have three shots to Brisbane’s none after 20 minutes of the second half.

In a switch, Hecher gets a run down the left and her cross is kicked out by Matos for a corner. The corner is low and goes through a few people before finding its way to the back of the box to Yallop. She shoots but it’s deflected and goes up high to be gathered by Willacy safely.

A careless distribution by Aquino goes straight to Collister. Khamis is clear in front of goal but the lob is intercepted and doesn’t reach Khamis. In the rush for the ball, Rankin is knocked over and Collister gives away a free kick after a wasted opportunity.

A transition sees Leticia McKenna offside. It’s straight back up the other end again and Russell brings it into the box on the left, kicks it back from the goal line and it’s tipped into the air by Aquino and then headed by Hunter across the goal. It hits the right goalpost and bounces back into play and it’s cleared by Rankin in a very close call.

The Roar attack again and McKenna gets a shot from the top of the box that skims the top post.

It’s straight back up the other end though and Galea extracts a foul on the right of the box from Rankin. Galea to take the kick. She goes for goal to the top right bin and Polkinghorne heads it out to the left. Not sure it had enough on it to get in but it was an audacious move. The resulting corner lands right in front of goal and is headed up and into the arms of Aquino by Cooper. Khamis has been knocked over in the foreground and complains about it but there’s no action on it.

In yet another transition, Gielnik somehow manages to get up from being knocked over in the box to get down to the other end to receive a through ball in the box. Willacy comes right out to deflect it across the goal. Torpey is there to pick it up but her shot goes straight to Matos covering who kicks it out for a corner.

The short corner is crossed by Rankin then punched away by Willacy. The clearance comes back in but this time is snatched by Willacy.

The game has become very transitional now and it’s Brisbane’s turn for a crack. After some play around the box Dalton has a shot over the heads of everyone but there’s not enough on it and it bounces to the feet of Willacy who scoops it up.

Once more back down the other end and this time Henry gets a shot that hits the crossbar. She looks to be offside but it’s not called.

With five minutes to go, a nice ball to Gielnik sees her take a run down the right but her pass back into the box is ineffectual and is cut off and cleared by Matos. It then goes out wide to Hecher but her cross goes to no one and goes out in acres of space on the right of goal. She should have really taken a shot then.

In a slightly desperate effort, Hunter passes to Collister who takes a shot from a long way out. It’s not on target and goes out to the right. The previously well organised Wanderers have morphed to a bit of a shambles as desperation for the equaliser sets in. They need to settle again to be more effective and patient.

In a much better move, the clearance from Aquino goes to Matos who places the ball back to Galea who tips it over right in front of Khamis who runs onto it in the box. She races with Aquino to the ball but Aquino throws herself on top of it before Khamis can connect.

There’s another push by the Wanderers and a couple of incursions are foiled until Yeoman-Dale takes it down the left and crosses to Khamis in the box. A little back heel is cleared by Polkinghorne to Matos who has a crack but she’s a long way out and it was never going in. There’s a minute left.

The clearance is to Cooper who brings it up but it goes out. Wanderers throw in.  Yeoman-Dale takes it. Khamis flicks it into the box and Galea sends it back out to Hunter. She passes back to Copus-Brown who sends it back into the box with interest. Khamis picks it up, turns and strikes. It’s on target but Aquino dives and pushes it out with one hand, saving the day for the Roar.

There’s a corner with 5 seconds to go. Khamis heads it over the goal and full time is called much to the relief of Brisbane.

So disappointing for the Wanderers not to equaliser or even win in the second half. They really did dominate although the stats aren’t really showing that. Possession was 48% WSW 52% Roar,  territory 47% WSW 53% Roar,  corners 4 for Brisbane and 3 for the Wanderers and shots 13 for Brisbane and 11 for the Wanderers which I find hard to believe after the second half. Shots on target were Brisbane 7, Wanderers 3, balls into area Brisbane 25, Wanderers 24 and saves Wanderers 5, Brisbane 2.

Speaking after the game, Leena Khamis agrees that Western Sydney Wanderers were very unlucky and deserved a point at least and big-upped the save by Morgan Aquino, which is nice.

Emily Gielnik gets Player of the Match which I don’t really agree with. Yes, she got two goals and the first was a cracker but the second was a penalty and she had very little impact on the second half. I realise goal scorers often get this award but I think the defenders stepped up, particularly in the second half.

Polkinghorne saved the day many times and Aquino really saved the day, right at the end and was very solid, except for a couple of dubious distributions. Jenkins also had a very solid game both in attack and defence. Khamis, Collister, Yeoman-Dale and even Galea coming on as a sub late in the game all were worthy contenders. But I don’t make these decisions.

So Brisbane have Sydney to play next and I think they need to ask a few questions. Wanderers played well today, perhaps their best match of the season, despite losing. They are mostly a young team with a couple of veterans but were able to take it to Brisbane today. Sydney is also a young team but have a lot more experience playing together. Given the Sydney FC v Brisbane Roar match will be another top of the table bout, it will say a lot about the state of the W-League. I worry a bit that Brisbane are stacked with Matildas yet haven’t been able to perform as expected. Yes, they haven’t lost yet but they’ve drawn four times and didn’t dominate today against a team at the bottom of the table. Their only convincing win was against Melbourne Victory. Anyway, it should be a very interesting match on Sunday.

Teams: WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS: Willacy, Matos, Yeoman-Dale, Orgill, Cooper, Middleton, Collister, Copus-Brown, Hunter, Russell, Khamis. Substitutes: Newbon (GK), Chauvet, Gomez, Galea, Henry.

Scorers: Khamis 14.

BRISBANE ROAR: Aquino, Heatley, Rankin, Polkinghorne, Carroll, Dalton, Hecher, Chance, Freier, Yallop, Gielnik. Substitutes: Zaffina, Horsey, Margraf, McKenna.

Scorers: Gielnik 16, pen 32.

Referee: Casey Reibelt.

Attendance: 494.

Impetus’ coverage of Australian Women’s Football is supported by The Chicken Salt Co. They are offering every Impetus reader 5% off all orders of Chicken Salt from their website. Go to https://www.chickensalt.co.uk/?mate=impetus and place your order – 5% will automatically be taken off of the cost. The coupon code is impetus.

Sydney FC 4-0 Canberra United

Report and EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS from Kris Goman.

Sydney FC moved seven points clear at the top of the Westfield W-League after a comprehensive 4-0 win over second placed Canberra United, who were previously unbeaten.

It’s Teresa Polias’ 150th game in the W-league, the first player to do so. Incredible really when you consider how short each season is. It really is an achievement. Another record on the line is the all-time leading goal scorer. Michelle Heyman is currently sitting at 69 goals, one behind Sam Kerr’s all-time record of 70. It looks set to be smashed and, despite being a Sydney fan, I’m hoping it’s today so I can witness it.

This is the top of the table clash. Sydney have been victorious in all their matches so far. Canberra have played five but have won three and drawn two. Still expecting this to be close with both teams in form. Sydney will have the home ground advantage of course at Kogarah Oval.

Both Sydney and Canberra are playing 4-3-3 today and the visitors kick off. The opening exchanges consist of a battle in the mid field with both team’s defence standing strong and keeping back any incursion to the final thirds until a foul gives Sydney a free kick. 

Polias takes it and its headed straight back out by Canberra. Heyman gets a ball through the centre but is relieved of it by Charlotte Mclean before she can enter the box.

Canberra string together a few passes. Kendall Fletcher passes to Grace Maher who takes a shot which is headed on and provides the perfect opportunity for Heyman to run onto it in the box. Ally Green is right beside her though and bumps her off the ball so she can’t make a decent connection and it’s gathered by Jada Mathyssen-Whyman.
It’s down the other end quickly and Princess Ibini sends a ball across from the left. Mackenzie Hawkesby is not quite quick enough to connect to what would have been a dead cert. Sydney apply a lot of pressure to stay in their attacking third and are rewarded with a number of throw ins. The pressure is building with a couple of runs into the box but no shots on goal yet.

Then a corner is given to Sydney, to be taken by Polias. It lands in front of the goal for a couple of headers before it’s cleared to the left side-line.

Another wave from Sydney sees Remy Siemsen on the right evading two defenders and getting a shot away but Keeley Richards collects it safely. It’s straight back the other end for a solo effort by Nikki Flannery but her shot is under powered and goes straight to Mathyssen-Whyman.

Sydney weave down the right with a number of connected passes and a cross goes into the hand of Fletcher for a free kick near the top of the box on the right. Everyone lines up along the top of the box. Somehow everyone misses the ball in and it floats out to the left chased by Ibini. She darts between defenders to bring it in and passes back from the goal line. It goes past Siemsen and is kicked up by the Canberra defence to Hawkesby’s chest. It bounces off her chest and she volleys it in past two defenders for the first goal. 1-0 Sydney at 16 minutes in. Hawkesby runs off with her tongue out in celebration, chased by her teammates who eventually catch her for a group hug.

After a dominating ten minutes, Canberra get back into the play a bit and there’s a lot more midfield action. The defence is holding strong until Green brings the ball down the left flank and her cross is kneed out uncontrolled by Jessika Nash. The resulting corner sees the ball in and out of the box a few times until a shot by Natalie Tobin is pushed out at with a stretch by Richards for another corner.

The corner is defended well by Canberra and we’re back to a midfield battle. The rest of the half plays out with a couple of build ups by Canberra foiled by Sydney, unrelenting pressure by Sydney including a number of corners but the Canberra defence standing ultimately solid.

There’s one beautiful run down the left by Cortnee Vine from a Green pass but her pass across goal sees no one connect and is out for a goal kick. The Green / Vine connection is formidable. They are both in top form and can cause havoc at will it seems.

The next distribution by Richards is sent directly to Ibini’s thigh and she nearly scores from this mistake.

At half time there’s a substitution and Taylor-Young is off and Satchell is on for Canberra. Canberra come back rejuvenated and get some possession. They look good when they have the ball and I like their passing game. They just can’t seem to breach the Sydney defence though and it’s not long before we find Ibini running into the box and passing to Clare Wheeler for a shot on goal. It’s deflected out and Sydney have their first corner of the second half.

The corner comes across and is headed straight out the other side by Maher for another corner from the opposite post. Next corner is punched up by Richards then headed onto the top of the net by Vine. Shortly after Canberra get a rare corner but the lob is grabbed out of the air by Wyman. Canberra can’t win a trick today.

The next Sydney corner is close but eventually cleared. There is some movement around the box and a couple of blocked shots until Ibini gets a clear position at the top of the box. Her shot is deflected by Richards who is on the ground. Siemsen rushes in to kick it and it hits the top of the bar and rebounds straight down and bounces back while Siemsen rushes in and points to the goal line. Paige Satchell is able to take the ball away down the right flank towards goal. Heyman can’t connect with her cross and the Sydney defence recover to keep it out. The replay shows the ball from Siemsen clearly went in with a massive spin that bounced it back out again but the ball clearly crossed the line. The crowd rumbles when the replay is shown. The lack of VAR has cost Sydney a goal there. Siemsen is trying to argue the point with the ref who is not having it. She might regret that decision when she watches the match back later.

Play continues with Canberra on the attack but once again the Sydney defence proves impenetrable until Siemsen can take a run up field. There’s some passing around the top of the box then Canberra takes back control.

Wheeler stops a foray into the box and once again Sydney are on the attack. This time it’s up the right side and the ball ends up with Vine.  She brings it into the box, shoots and it just goes under the diving arm of Richards but shaves the left post to go out in a very near miss.

At 64 minutes Siemsen gets the ball about ten metres from the top of the box. She passes right to Hawkesby who flicks it back to Vine who has positioned herself just inside the box. She controls the ball and takes a snap shot that beats the keeper on the right of goal. It hits the back of the net and Sydney are redeemed and it’s 2-0. Cortnee Vine’s confidence is soaring. If she doesn’t make the Matildas squad for the Olympics, I’ll be very surprised and disappointed. I hope boss Tony Gustavsson is watching this match.

Canberra respond to adversity aggression with Flannery bringing the ball into the box and taking a shot that crossed the face of goal unchallenged.

That doesn’t last long and the ball is shortly back up with Sydney and there’s a corner to be taken from the left. It goes to the back post and Siemsen heads it. It’s grabbed and punched back down by Richards and kicked by Laura Hughes. The kick goes straight to Siemsen who pounds it through the tangle of legs and into goal and is finally vindicated with a recognised goal. She’s pretty happy about it as the score increases to 3-0 Sydney at 72 minutes.

In a similar restart, Canberra have another corner after the kick-off. It’s cleared by a Allira Toby volley. Another ball towards the Canberra goal is cut off before Heyman can get to it. The Canberra icon has had very little involvement so far in this match and is struggling to make an impact.

At 75 minutes, Sydney get a corner on the right. It comes to the back post and Siemsen heads it in for her second of the match and fourth of the season. Sydney go up 4-0.

It’s looking embarrassing now and Sydney are showing their class with Canberra unable to match it. Given this is a top of the table clash, Sydney look to have the Premiership stitched up at this stage. Brisbane may have some better answers next week but Canberra are floundering.

With eight minutes left, a ball comes straight up the field into the box for Toby to run at. Her kick connects at the same time the keeper does and Richards goes down as does Toby in their clash. Richards seems to have come off the worst and needs some treatment. Looks like the contact was in the thigh.

A late slide tackle on Keir by Siemsen gets her a yellow card and Canberra a free kick near the right side-line in their half. It’s initially taken short but for some reason is called back. Next time it goes to the maddening crowd. It’s headed over and to a waiting Rachael Goldstein who kicks through to Mathyssen-Whyman who has gathered it up without any problems.

A Canberra corner is cleared up field and Vine gets hold of it. In a solo run she avoids a defender and shoots. It’s deflected by Lauren Keir for a corner.

The corner is well managed by the Canberra defence. Richards makes a couple more saves from long shots before the end of the match. A final push by Canberra comes to naught. Sydney is victorious 4-0.

The stats come up at the end and very surprisingly Sydney’s possession is 49%. The tale is told in the territory though and that’s 59% for Sydney with 13 corners to Canberra’s 3 and 16 shots to Canberra’s 6. Shots on target: Sydney 9, Canberra 2 and balls into area: Sydney 42, Canberra 15.

Vine is the player of the match after her goal, innumerable penetrating runs and performance in defence. Well deserved. 

This really was a dominating performance by Sydney and puts them well clear at the top of the table after six wins from six matches. It’s also Canberra’s first defeat of the season so the mood may be a little sombre on the bus trip back to Canberra.

Teams: SYDNEY FC: Mathyssen-Whyman, Hristodoulou, Green, Mclean, Tobin, Polias, Vine, Hawkesby, Wheeler, Ibini, Siemsen. Substitutes: Offer (GK), Lowe, Ray, Rule, Toby.

Scorers: Hawkesby 16. Vine 64. Siemsen 72, 76.

CANBERRA UNITED: Richards, Foletta, Ilijoski, Nash, Keir, Fletcher, Hughes, Maher, Heyman, Flannery, Taylor-Young.  Substitutes: Jones (GK), Goldstein, Galic, Koulizakis, Satchell.

Referee: Georgia Ghiradello.

Attendance: 1,337.

Top four sides qualify for the finals at the end of the regular season.

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