(no title)

Enigma of Victory

Adelaide United 0-1 Melbourne Victory

By Kieran Yap.

Adelaide entered this game on the back of a three game winning streak and with their only loss coming in the opening game in a seven-goal thriller. The Reds are starting to be whispered about as finals contenders and a win here would be a big step toward that goal.

Melbourne Victory began the round as somewhat of an enigma, they thrashed Melbourne City by six goals but two weeks later lost to Brisbane by the same margin, they were looking to bounce back and welcomed the returning Lisa De Vanna into the side although she started on the bench.

The first half was a cagey affair, neither side was able to gain any lasting momentum, both sides were rushed in midfield and struggled to penetrate each other’s defence. Maria Rojas, Adelaide’s Chilean star was deployed mostly as an out and out striker, trying to get in behind the back four but Claudia Bunge was focused and persistent in preventing Rojas from having an easy afternoon.

**Above:** Melbourne Victory’s Melina Ayres (right) who had an assist for her team’s only goal, takes on the Adelaide United defence. **Photo:** @WLeague.

Victory’s best avenue to goal seemed to be Angie Beard’s marauding runs down the left flank but her opposing fullback Charlotte Grant also had an early moment of magic when she skipped between two Melbourne players to cross early in the game.

Kyra Cooney-Cross had her claim for a spectacular goal denied when her in-swinging corner was dropped by goalkeeper Fryer-McLaren and the ball bounced off the inside of the near post. Victory players appealed and Melina Ayres began to celebrate but the referee and assistants were un-moved, no goal.

Fiona Worts responded for The Reds with a dash down the left and a dangerous cross that caused a moment of panic for Melbourne, the ball bobbled to Chelsie Dawber who sliced the ball over the bar when trying to find a gap between defenders.

Adelaide’s best chance came when Rojas ran onto a long ball and raced into the penalty area with only the ‘keeper to beat. She appeared certain to score and Garton did very well to stay on her feet and close down the angle, Rojas would’ve been disappointed not to finish more emphatically, but it was still a solid save.

The second half was more open, Victory made some position adjustments with Privitelli switching to the right wing to inject some pace into the Melbourne attac. Adelaide defended with determination but struggled to get in sync in the forward areas. One of the most fun things about The Reds this season has been that a different player seems to pop up as a match winner each game, but this week they were struggling to find one. Fiona Worts looked most likely to break the deadlock with a good opportunity that Garton again was equal to.

Eventually Victory played their trump card, Lisa De Vanna came on and immediately showed her class with a clever turn in midfield and some aggressive pressing on the defenders.

Melbourne had been more aggressive in the second half and when the goal came it felt deserved. Angela Beard hit a deep free kick to the far post, Melina Ayres had the vision and technique to nod the ball back across goal and Catherine Zimmerman out jumped two defenders to head into goal off the crossbar.

**Above:** Despite the best efforts of Georgia Campagnale, Adelaide United fell to their first loss since their first game of the season. **Photo:** @AUFCWomen

Not satisfied to defend the slim lead, Victory kept up the attacking pressure, De Vanna found space on the left and whipped in a cross that Cooney-Cross was unlucky not to reach despite a desperate lunging attempt at a diving header.

One goal ended up being enough and Melbourne celebrated their second win of the season. They looked much more like the team of the first two rounds than the one that was overrun by The Roar last week and showed here that they could win in a scrappy tight finals-like physical game. They do look a different proposition when De Vanna is on the park and keeping her fit will be paramount in Jeff Hopkins plans.

Adelaide was beaten, but not easily, they have become a difficult team to play against and the gap between the team’s best and worst form is closing. The moments of magic that had gotten results deserted them but hopefully they return next week, this was the first game of the season they have failed to score and the first game they have not been in a winning position at any point. The bar has been set high by their own performances and they will be aware of their own potential.

Note: I have elected not to address the elephant (or random mouse-clicking, euphonium owning man) in the room and instead just focus on the game… as we expect and demand the broadcasters can find a way to do from here on.

Teams: ADELAIDE UNITED: Fryer-McLaren, Grant, I. Hodgson, McNamara, Walder, Holmes, Campagnale, Condon, Dawber, Rojas, Worts. Substitutes: Grove (GK), E. Hodgson, Hogg, Kirkby, Mullan.

MELBOURNE VICTORY: Garton, Privitelli, Beard, Bunge, Morrison, Barbieri, Martineau, Jackson, Zimmerman, Cooney-Cross, Ayres. Substitutes: Maizels (GK), Doran, Markovski, Zois, De Vanna.

Scorer: Zimmerman 78.

Referee: Rebecca Durcau.

Attendance: 1,105.

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.

The Swedish Scene

@DandalBs brings us his weekly round-up of all the women’s football news from Sweden. This week, the news is dominated by the conclusion of the saga surrounding the future of reigning Damallsvenkan champions Kopparbergs/Göteborg.

Kopparbergs/Göteborg are still claiming the women’s football headlines in Sweden. On Wednesday evening, BK Häcken‘s members, after a long and intense debate, decided by 416 votes to 35 to take over Kopparbergs/Göteborg which will prevent the reigning Damallsvenskan champions from leaving the competition. Everything was completely finalised twenty-four hours later when at their annual general meeting, Kopparbergs/Göteborg accepted BK Häcken’s offer. The club will play in the 2021 Damallsvenskan under the name BK Häcken FF.

**Above:** Bravida Arena, the home of the new BK Häcken FF women’s team. **Photo:** Göteborgs-Posten

Local newspaper Göteborgs-Posten will webcast BK Häcken FF’s first match, a friendly against Jitex, on Wednesday next week. The same newspaper also showed action from the club’s first ever training session under their new name which took place at the club’s 6,500 capacity Bravida Arena.

At the start of the week, the club lost 28 year-old Julia Roddar to Washington Spirit.

It is rumoured that now Kopparbergs/Göteborg’s future is secured, their major financial backer Peter Bronsman will look to invest in a FA Women’s Super League side, with Reading looking like a particularly likely destination for him. Bronsman continues to deny the rumour.

NEWS IN BRIEF:

The schedule for the 2021 Damallsvenskan season has been finalised. The first round of matches will take place on the weekend of 17^th-18^th April. Newly promoted Hammarby will host reigning champions and newly named BK Häcken FF with fellow new side AIK travelling to Växjö. Elsewhere, Djurgården host KIF Örebro, Vittsjö are home to Piteå, Eskilstuna United welcome Kristianstads and Linköping host FC Rosengård.

Kristianstad‘s coach Elísabet Gunnarsdottir has announced that she will not take the position as Iceland’s new national coach. Speaking about the strong speculation linking her with the job, Gunnarsdottir said: “It’s no secret I’m very interested in the job, but the offer came late and I won’t desert a team I have just made plans with.”

Dajan Hashemi, who recently left Hammarby, has signed a contract with FC Nordsjælland in Denmark.

**Above:** Caroline Murray unveiled by AIK alongside manager Anne Mäkinen. **Photo:** Maxim Thoré, Bildbyrån

AIK have signed 27 year-old American winger Caroline Murray ahead of their return to the Damallsvenskan. Murray has played in Finland, Iceland and had spent the last three years in the second tier Elitettan where she played against AIK most recently for Sunnanå.

Anthony Murray: Latest Addition To Sutton United’s Talented Coaching Staff

As part of our sponsorship and partnership with sixth tier Sutton United Women, Impetus founder Ben Gilby spoke to Anthony Murray who will take over the club’s new U21 side for the 2021/22 season. In the piece Anthony discusses his aims for the brand new side he will be putting together over the coming weeks and months.

**Above:** Anthony Murray – the latest addition to Sutton United Women’s hugely talented coaching staff. **Photo:** Michael Brownie.

Anthony has a strong background in London football as he explained: “I’ve had a great career playing youth football for various academies such as Queen’s Park Rangers, Leyton Orient and Charlton Athletic, I played professional football abroad for a season as well as various semi-professional clubs between step one and five. My coaching career started pretty young. While playing academy football, lots of kids on my housing estate around 2004 begged for me to coach them as they wanted to prepare for a tournament and because we went quite far they then went and spoke to the council about getting me onto my FA Level One Coaching Badge. This then saw me coaching at London Tigers FC with their youth development programme and with Westminster Sports Unit.”

This led to Anthony applying for the role of Under 21s manager at Sutton United Women, a club who are making rapid strides up the league system with a record already in their short history of developing a number of hugely talented young players who have come through their ranks into the first team. Not surprisingly, this made the club an attractive proposition for Anthony: “Throughout my playing career, I’ve come across Sutton United many times at Gander Green Lane and it’s always has been a pleasant place to be. Sutton United are a great family and community oriented club and this is what attracted me to be part of the setup. Sutton are all about developing players in house and progressing them up the ranks and that’s what I’m about developing players and giving them opportunities.”

“From the first team down to the youth section the coaches and players are massive on development and giving player opportunities. We aren’t a club with a budget which allows us to go and bring players in so we know we have to go out onto the field to find players and advertise through word of mouth. Sutton United have big ambitions to progress up the tiers and this doesn’t happen unless you have a player pathway from the youth section upwards and putting a RTC and post 16 section in place.”

The club’s current U21s, who will be moving up to U23 level next season with their existing manager Courtney Bartlett and coaching staff have had an exceptionally strong season when they have been allowed to take to the field due to the pandemic – something which Anthony hopes to build on with his own squad when he takes over next season: “Yes, the present U21s have had a great season to date and it would have been amazing to see them continue into the second half of the season to see if they could’ve gone the full distance in winning the league title. Clearly they are a competitive side which can score goals, defend and compete when things get tough games.”

**Above:** Anthony is full of positivity about Sutton United’s new U21 side for 2021/22. **Photo:** Michael Brownie.

“With bringing a new U21 team together next season, you never know what you’ll get, so it’s about seeing what happens at the trials and then work on the team cohesion. The plan is to develop a team that will continue to enjoy playing football but also develop as people, want to compete and become problem solvers in games ready for the first team.”

We briefly alluded to the impact of the pandemic on the season, so I asked Anthony to talk a bit more about how he is trying to maintain contact with his players: “It’s massively difficult at this moment in time as football up and down the country is suspended in the non-elite game, as well as it being difficult for many families and business being hit by the financial side of lockdown and people’s mental health.”

“With the current crop of players I’m working with, we try to keep in touch with them as much as possible via Zoom and discussing various topics around football especially analysing previous matches, providing training programmes they can do at home and also giving them the opportunity to communicate with the staff one to one whether that be football related or things going on at home.”

Anthony is also desperate for the sport to re-start, but he is using the time constructively at present: “ I’m itching to get started. In the background I’m putting many things in place so we can get firing as quickly as possible. The main priority once the government and the FA give us the green light will be to organise trials as well as travelling to matches within and around the Sutton area to see players in action.”

**Above:** Anthony at work at Charlton Athletic Women. **Photo:** Michael Brownie.

In terms of Anthony’s aims for himself and the women’s game in the short to medium term, he is extremely optimistic: “I’ve been blessed to be inspired by some great female players growing up such as Eartha Pond, Rachel Yankee and Lois Roche and to see where the women’s game is now is amazing. We’ve had England v USA in the World Cup being the most viewed female international game, various winners in the FAWSL, a massive pool of young talent coming through at every level. To think the women’s game was banned for fifty years and look how far it’s progressed organically with not much of a budget to work with and games being televised. I feel the women’s game will be showing FAWSL games on terrestrial television, increase in funding at grassroots to professional level and both the FA Women’s Championship and tier three clubs being able to have professional status.”

Sutton United are a club well worth keeping a close eye on – and that is something we at Impetus will be doing over the coming months and seasons.

The Ladies League: Full of Passion, Full of Football and Full of Fun

Ben Gilby spoke to Rose Valente from The Ladies League You Tube Channel and Podcast in Australia. The group describe the podcast as being by the fans “for the fans” and run by “a group of female football fans covering football in Australia. Content is heavily influenced by our passion, videos are low budget, interviews are what the fans want to hear and live commentary via Twitter is unapologetic.”

Rose opened our conversation by telling me all about how the podcast started: “It started how everything else we do started, by a snap decision I made and said ‘who’s in’ to the chat. The Podcast is only new for us, we have been making videos/documentaries on our YouTube channel, TLL TV, as well as writing articles which have now relocated to www.thereserveteam.com.au as we are currently restructuring our organisation. In the Australian football scene, nobody (that we knew of) had a strong dedicated women’s football podcast. There are so many A-League podcasts but no one really focused directly on W-League, which is where we wanted to come in. We started by covering the Aussies abroad and in the WSL and we are now doing weekly shows with the W-League underway. I think the only way to describe it is chaotic. Our podcast is exactly how we are at the pub watching a game. We’re yelling at each other, there’s no order and we always go over time!”

The majority of women’s football supporters in England don’t really appreciate just what a big deal The Matildas are in Australia. This itself is pretty incredible given the fact that in terms of media coverage, football is significantly behind Australian Rules Football (AFL), Rugby League and Cricket. I asked Rose how she thinks the Matildas have managed to gain such passionate support:

**Above:** The Ladies League gang. **Photo via:** Rose Valente.

“AFL is our biggest competition here in Australia as it’s huge. Football is not the number one sport and the sport as a whole is constantly battling for air time within the media. The Matildas have been on the rise and their recent successes and lovable nature has won over Australia’s hearts. There is something very relatable with this Matildas team, they are down to earth and that resonates with the fans. They put everything on the pitch and they play for their shirts. Nike’s creation of the Spew 2.0 Matildas specific jersey for the 2019 France Women’s World Cup was a huge moment for women’s football in Australia. Ex-Matildas remember sewing their badges on, wearing men’s sizes and some not even receiving their own kits. Now powerhouse brand Nike have created an iconic remake of infamous Socceroos Spew (worn from 1990) for the women and well, it’s hard to explain what that means. When I wore my Matildas Spew 2.0 jersey for the first time, I felt so proud of this team and all the Ex-Matildas that brought us to this position.”

With so many members of The Matildas squad now playing their club football in England, I wondered how the FA Women’s Super League is thought of in Australia: “Australians have really been getting around the WSL this season – it probably helps that the W-League has had a nine month off season! Optus Sport securing the rights for the WSL in Australia is great as they have the FA Premier League rights too so it makes the women’s game much more accessible to the existing fans of English football who may not have explored WSL previously.”

With most of the Matildas now playing outside of Australia, I asked Rose what she felt this meant for the W-League in the short to medium term future: “I think it’s going to be an exciting challenge for the W-League. Many thought the league was doomed but many don’t head to State National Premier League (NPL) games throughout the NPL seasons and watch our local talent. From a national team perspective, our Matildas will only get better by playing alongside Miedema, Le Sommer, Pernille Harder etc. Our players heading to bigger leagues only means great things for Australian football however the W-League now needs to decide what type of competition they want to be.”

Another issue that the W-League faces is that, with Australia co-hosting the next Women’s World Cup in 2023, a great deal is needed to grow recognition of the competition in the media and with the public. With only a handful of international players now playing in the competition, it makes life much harder. “There is a lot required to improve coverage and recognition,” said Rose, “but with the ever growing investment in women’s football in this country, we should hopefully make some changes in the near future.”

The appointment of Tony Gustavsson as Matildas head coach (see our piece on the recent Zoom conference with him that we joined in: https://impetus885775742.wordpress.com/2021/01/22/tony-gustavsson-ready-to-take-the-matildas-to-the-next-level/) was met with great positivity by Rose: “It’s great news! I can’t wait until the Matildas can properly start training together and getting some friendlies under their belts. It’s hard to gauge just yet as he hasn’t had a hands on opportunity as of yet but this is an extremely positive appointment and Australia is super excited!”

The next three years is potentially really exciting for the Matildas with the Olympics, Asia Cup and World Cup. I asked Rose what she felt success in this period would realistically look like. “Win win win! Haha but realistically I think the Olympics and Asia Cup will be an insight into what our performance in 2023 will look like and I am hoping Tony (Gustavsson) and the coaching team can learn from any early exits prior to 2023. At the Football Writers Festival we attended recently, Football Australia CEO James Johnson said he wants to see the Matildas win the World Cup at home and I loved hearing that. They have the backing of absolutely everyone. These next two years will be hard work for all involved but I think with the correct investment from our federation, we can take it out because we have the players and we have the coaching staff.”

Whilst the current stars of the Matildas are becoming more familiar to British women’s football fans due to their presence in the FAWSL, I asked Rose who she feels the next generation of stars will be for the national side: “In my eyes, it is Remy Siemsen, Jada Mathyssen-Whyman (if she can stay fit) both currently at Sydney FC and Ellie Carpenter. While Ellie is a huge star and has been part of the Matildas set up for a while now, we need to remember she’s only twenty years old! She has a lot still to achieve and I think she will.”

With an exciting home World Cup starting to appear over the horizon, I couldn’t help but thinking about the number of huge missed opportunities football has had in Australia over the past fifty years or so. Therefore, Rose and I ended our conversation by talking about what Football Australia need to do to make sure the 2023 World Cup doesn’t get added to that depressing catalogue: “Football in Australia needs a lot of work in general so this is a hard one. I honestly do not have the answer to this. I think there is a lot of work collectively behind the scenes that would need to be done however we need to remember James Johnson has only been part of Football Australia for under a year. He might just be the person we need to ensure from an administrative point of view we stay on track and don’t fall into a honeymoon period as we did after the Socceroos won the Asian Cup with the Socceroos (the men’s Australian national football team).

For more information on The Ladies League, check out their website at http://www.theladiesleague.com/ and find their podcast at all the usual podcast subscription sites.

If you have any queries about your order, please email sales@chickensalt.co.uk

Euxton Girls: Doing Great Work in Lancashire

Impetus recently announced a player sponsorship deal with Chorley Women’s Lisa Topping. One of Lisa’s early clubs was Euxton Girls. Ben Gilby talks to the club’s Michael Taylor about Euxton Girls’ development, Lisa’s time there and how things are going at the present time.

**Above:** Euxton Girls enjoyed success in the pre-lockdown period. **Photo via:** Michael Taylor.

We began our discussion with Michael telling us all about the history of the club: “Euxton Girls FC was formed in July 2002 by our Chairman Dennis Winn, when his granddaughter told him she wanted to play football. That granddaughter was Nicola Barker, who is still involved in coaching at the club. This grassroots, girls only club was established to encourage and help give girls, from the age of five to eighteen, the opportunity to discover the game. Originally with twenty-three girls signing on to U10s and U12s teams, and playing in the Lancashire FA Girls League. We now have over 250 girls across seventeen teams playing in six leagues and have an established FA Wildcats centre, recognised by the FA.

Impetus recently announced sponsorship of Chorley Women’s Lisa Topping who played for Euxton Girls in her early days as a footballer. I asked Michael how Lisa is remembered at the club: “Lisa is remembered as a hardworking and technical player. She had an excellent left foot, in which she often curled in goals straight from the corner.”

“Lisa was the first to make it at a professional senior level and was followed shortly by Danielle Gibbons (who also played for Liverpool FC). We also had Jasmine Elliot who represented England at Youth Level. Lisa was also the first to accept an American scholarship and many have followed her since, around 5% of our players over the years have made it into a higher grade of football. With rising numbers of players at the club and improvement within the women’s football pyramid, we hope to see plenty more of our girls progress into senior football, both at professional and grassroots level.”

**Above:** Euxton Girls in action – something which everyone hopes will be able again to happen before too long. **Photo** **via:** Michael Taylor.

Coronavirus has had a massive impact on life in the country and Euxton Girls have had to work their way through it too: “It’s been tough for everyone, Football was missed by everyone, especially the players, but we were very much on the front foot to get back and stay back safely, there is extra work but it’s worth it to get that hour in the week and a game on a Saturday or a Sunday to enjoy and see their teammates and a sense of normality on the pitch.”

“Lockdown was tough to start with but I think we did well all things considered, All the coaches were constantly in touch with their teams and each other, at least every week with quizzes, online training sessions and meetups etc. The club also did weekly online quizzes across social media with different themes such as Blockbusters and A Question of Sport, and amazingly we managed to get our club sticker book launched, online, which went down a real storm with all the girls.”

Apart from coronavirus, there are other challenges at the club as Michael highlights: “The biggest challenge now is the lack of facilities, pitches, and winter training especially as the club grows and less are available due to various reasons, we lost one of our pitches earlier in the year to housing development for example.”

That growth is incredible and the achievements of these ever growing number of Euxton Girls teams is phenomenal: “We started into lockdown with fourteen teams, we now have seventeen, with the addition of two new U9s and an Open age team during lockdown. Our last season’s u12s West team just won the Lancashire FA Cup in October, delayed from May, which is the highest achievement since our then U15s beat Manchester City to the league title back in the day. We’ve had tournament wins at Flamingo Land, Blackpool, Bispham and Skelmersdale national tournament as well as League wins in recent years in the West Lancs league. We currently have six of our older teams in contention for League honours.”

**Above:** Lisa Topping, sponsored by *Impetus* (back row in tracksuit) with a group of Euxton Girls players. **Photo via:** Michael Taylor.

Like every club, Euxton Girls have a wonderful group of volunteers, without whom they could not function. Michael highlights some the club’s real stalwarts: “Antonia, our U10’s West team coach especially stands out, she works with a few of the teams from the U9’s to the open age, she is fantastic at what she does and has been a real asset with the our newer female coaches to bring them up to speed with their teams and training and mentor them without the FA courses being available as yet. She’s due to go to America coaching later on this year and will be sorely missed. We wish her every success on her journey.”

“Maisie is another standout from our 16s team. She also plays for our U18s and helps to coach one of our U13s as well as leading our youth council which was cut short, both these girls are great role models to all the girls and fantastic examples of what the club is about.”

We ended our conversation by examining what the club’s aims are over the next few years: “The immediate aim is stability and recover lost ground, we’re in a good position and have some good things going on later this year all being well. The main aim is to get the conveyor belt going from the Wildcats upwards, we would like to see girls progress through the ranks to open age, if not via a player pathway with a club such as Chorley Women, to a higher level. It would be good to see more of our former players coming back into coaching their own teams as well and get more female coaches onto the books. If we can get to twenty teams by our 20^th birthday next year, that would be a fantastic achievement, facilities and coaches pending of course.”

**Above:** Lisa Topping of Chorley Women and formerly of Euxton Girls – proudly sponsored by *Impetus*. **Artwork:** Graphics by PW.

The View From France

Jean-Pierre Thiesset rounds up all the action from the thirteenth week of action in D1 Arkema, French women’s football’s top flight and updates us with all the transfer news around the division.

Olympique Lyonnais won away from home 5–0 against Paris FC. With the return of Selma Bacha (one decisive pass and involved at the start of the move which was concluded with a wonderful goal from Amel Majri) and Nikita Parris (two goals and one decisive pass) as starters, Lyon did not leave any chance to Paris FC by scoring twice in the opening eleven minutes of the match.

**Above:** Selma Bacha who played an influential role in Olympique Lyonnais’ opening goal. **Photo:** Damien LG via @OLFeminin

Lyon finally found their dominant form again and produced a very good performance. The scorers were: Dezsnifer Marozsän (7), Nikita Parris (11, 66), Amel Majri (33) with a wonderful bicycle kick and Wendie Renard (73) with a left foot kick and not a header as usual.

Bordeaux consolidated third place in the table by winning 7-1 at Reims. Bordeaux dominated the match from the beginning to the end, completely suffocating Reims, which were never able to really worry their visitors despite scoring a goal at the end of the first half. Goals from Inès Jaurena (5), Khadija Shaw (10, 40, 66), Maëlle Garbino (17, 53), Claire Lavogez (76). Mélissa Gomes (45) reduced the score for Reims. Khadija Shaw’s two goals ensure she stays top of the goal scorers chart in D1 Arkema. She has now scored seventeen goals. Bordeaux are now six points ahead of Montpellier, who seems to have already lost the battle for the third place.

Dijon won 3–2 at home against Soyaux. Dijon’s scorers were Shnia Demetrice Gordan (45, 68), Léa Khelifi (85). Marie-Charlotte Léger (61 penalty) and Nina Stapelfeldt (66) scored for Soyaux. This is a good result for Dijon who continues to pull themselves away from the bottom of the table being now nine points ahead of third from bottom. It is not such good news for Soyaux. They have now not won since their victory at Le Havre on October 2^nd, 2020, ten games ago. They have lost eight and drawn one in this period. Furthermore, Le Havre who are bottom, two points behind Soyaux have a game in hand on them as do Issy who are tied with them on seven points.

Paris St. Germain won 5-0 away to Guingamp. PSG are still league leaders, one point ahead of Lyon. By scoring very early in the game they shown to Guingamp how much they wanted to win. Goals from Sandy Baltimore (6), Marie-Antoinette Katoto (11, 56), Kadidiatou Diani (19) and Jordyn Huitema (85) earned the win. It seems that we will have to wait for the game between Olympique Lyon and Paris St. Germain to know who will win D1 Arkema this year.

The two other games both finished 0-0 draw – Montpellier at home against Fleury (with a red card for Montpellier’s Dominika Skorvankova after sixty-six minutes) and Le Havre at home against Issy.

The D1 ARKEMA table now looks like this:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	GD
Paris St. Germain	13	12	1	0	51	2	37	+ 49
Olympique Lyonnais	13	12	0	1	48	4	36	+ 44
Bordeaux	13	8	2	3	32	14	26	+ 18
Montpellier	13	6	2	5	16	20	20	– 4
Fleury	12	5	4	3	11	16	19	– 5
Paris FC	13	5	3	5	21	22	18	– 1
Dijon	12	5	1	6	15	22	16	– 7
Guingamp	13	5	1	7	19	22	16	– 3
Reims	13	3	2	8	17	30	11	– 13
Issy	12	2	1	9	8	53	7	– 45
Soyaux	13	2	1	10	9	29	7	– 20
Le Havre	12	1	2	9	10	23	5	– 13

**Above:** Nikita Parris in action against Paris FC at the weekend against whom she scored. **Photo:** Damien LG via @OLFeminin

Other news from Olympique Lyonnais team:

Newly arrived Lyon player Catarina Macario, made her debut for the USNWT in the weekend against Colombia. She put in an outstanding performance, scoring the first goal in the USA’s 6-0 win and was voted player of the match. We are so lucky to have her in Lyon and I cannot wait to see her play with OL team.

As expected last week, defensive midfielder Damaris Egurolla signed a three and a half year contract with the club which will start on January 20, 2021 and run until June 30, 2024.

According to Jean-Luc Vasseur, Lyon coach, there will be several other players coming to Lyon soon. Now we can say that Lyon is definitively busy in the transfer market this winter.

D1 ARKEMA January transfers:

TEAMS	ARRIVALS	DEPARTURES
PARIS SG	Aminata Diallo (Utah Royals, USA, end of loan)	Aminata Diallo (Atlético de Madrid, Spain, loan)
OLYMPIQUE LYONNAIS	Catarina Macario (Standford University, USA), Damaris Egurrola (Everton FC, England)	Manon Revelli (Servette Chênois FC, Switzerland, loan)
BORDEAUX	Svava Rós Guðmundsdóttir (Kristianstads DFF, Sweden), Malia Berkely (Florida State University, USA)	Marine Perea (Soyaux, loan), Elena Linari (AS Roma, Italia)
MONTPELLIER	None	Marie-Charlotte Léger (Soyaux, loan)
FLEURY	Michelle De Jongh (Vittsjö GIK, Sweden), Kamilla Karlsen (Bröndby IF, Denmark), Emmeline Mainguy (SSD Napoli, Italia)	Laëtitia Philippe (GPSO Issy, loan)
SOYAUX	Marie-Charlotte Léger (Montpellier, loan), Kelly Gadea (FC Sevilla, Spain), Marine Perea (Bordeaux, loan)	None
LE HAVRE	Andrea Rán Snæfeld Hauksdóttir (Breidablik, Island, loan)	None
ISSY	Laëtitia Philippe (Fleury, loan)	Ariana Mondiri (USA)

There have been no transfer activity so far for the other teams.

Glory For Perth As First Point Earned

Canberra United 1–1 Perth Glory

By Ben Gilby

Perth Glory picked up their first point of the season by gaining an outstanding draw away from home to unbeaten Canberra United in a game played in 38^oc heat at Viking Park.

**Above:** Perth Glory celebrate Elizabeth Anton’s goal. **Photo:** @PerthGloryFC

Canberra United star Grace Maher was celebrating her fiftieth W League start as her team went looking for the win which would take them back to the top of the W League table.

Glory were rocked midweek by the news that their outstanding player so far this season, Gemma Craine has been ruled out for the rest of the campaign due to a hamstring injury. Coming into the team for her first start was sixteen year-old local product Tijan McKenna, still at school, made first start for Perth Glory.

The Lime Green Machine started on the front foot, and within two minutes Michelle Heyman managed to get on the end of a long ball down the right but Glory defender Elizabeth Anton made a great clearance for a throw.

They came again three minutes later when Emma Ilijoski was played in by Nikki Flannery and put in a dangerous ball which Heyman juggled and try to get a shot away but the Perth defence did their job well.

Heyman got through once more after the ten minute mark by a great ball from Flannery. Her first touch was not as good as she would have hoped for which allowed Sarah Carroll to put the ball behind for a corner.

Just before the quarter of an hour mark, Canberra’s New Zealand international Paige Satchell danced through several attempted Perth tackles to fire in a low shot which Lily Alfeld got down to well to push the ball out for a corner at the left hand post.

Canberra were well on top at this stage and earned another corner when Tijan McKenna ended another attack by putting the ball behind. Maher’s flag kick was well dealt with once more.

It took Perth until the twenty-third minute to get near the home penalty area thanks to a run from Kat Jukic. She found McKenna who tried to turn Satchell but lost possession.

Just before the half-hour mark, Lauren Keir played through an inch perfect ball to Heyman, but the Canberra star hit her shot disappointingly wide of the left hand post.

**Above**: Michelle Heyman hit an effort wide when through on goal. **Photo:** @CanberraUnited.

Perth were defending superbly well against a Canberra side who have such a dangerous forward line. If the Western Australians could add some more forward momentum, they could quickly ensure the frustration would grow within the team from the nation’s capital.

Five minutes before the break, another Canberra chance went begging when Heyman played a square ball into Isabella Foletta just outside the box and her rocket effort just went over.

Straight down the other end and Perth fashioned their best effort to date. Caitlin Doeglas played a ball in from the left to Marianna Tabain. She took a touch and hit an effort which was parried by Chantel Jones in the Canberra goal before Emma Ilijoski hacked clear.

The final chance of the opening half fell the home sides way when Kier put Ilijoski in down the left. Glory teenager McKenna looked to have held her off well before giving away a free kick. Maher’s ball in was comfortably held by Alfeld.

Perth began the second half having far more of the ball offensively. Six minutes into the half, Caitlin Doeglas hit a dangerous ball away to Malia Steinmetz who returned the favour with a pass back to Doeglas that allowed her to race clear of the home defence before being ruled offside.

Canberra responded with three rapid opportunities. Lily Alfeld needed to be alert to make a save from Nikki Flannery’s header after a corner. Then, Grace Maher laid off a lovely pass to Paige Satchell, who was being watched by Kiwi head coach Tom Sermanni. Her ball in found Heyman but she was well marshalled by Malia Steinmetz for Perth. Sarah Carroll then conceded a free kick which led to Maher firing an effort which Alfeld pushed away.

**Above:** Perth’s Tijan McKenna (far left) on her first start for the club at the age of sixteen watches on as team-mate Malia Steiinmetz puts a tackle in. **Photo:** @CanberraUnited

The heat then began to take its toll with chances at a premium ahead of the final quarter of an hour.

With ten minutes to go, Perth Glory won their first corner of the game. Deborah-Ann De la Harpe played the ball in and sub Patricia Charalambous got two efforts away but both were blocked by the Canberra defence.

Perth threatened again and a throw in found Hana Lowry. The seventeen year-old dinked a ball in which Jones failed to deal with which allowed Charalabous to earn another chance which couldn’t find the target.

Canberra responded instantly when Laura Hughes hit an effort narrowly wide of the left hand post.

With five minutes left, Perth won a free kick after Nikki Flannery was adjudged to have pushed Charalambous. De la Harpe’s ball in found Lowry who back heeled an effort which deflected into the path of Elizabeth Anton whose effort rolled in.

Straight from the kick off though, Canberra levelled. Demi Koulizakis found Hayley Taylor-Young and the substitute’s shot came off the right post then rolled along to hit the left hand one and bounce over the line with Michelle Heyman then adding a touch.

**Above:** Less than a minute after falling behind, Canberra were celebrating Hayley Taylor-Young’s leveller. **Photo:** @CanberraUnited

After that flurry of two goals in less than a minute the remainder of the game rather petered out and there is absolutely no doubt that, although disappointed to have conceded so quickly after taking the lead, Perth will be the happier with the outcome.

Perth Glory captain Tash Rigby, who was celebrating her 28^th birthday said: “We’re so happy. We wanted to go out and nail every action and intimidate with our actions. We are stoked with the result. We were pretty knackered with the heat, but then again we’re used to it in Perth.”

Canberra United head coach Vicki Linton was, perhaps not quite as happy: “We needed to make the most of our possession and chances and we didn’t. We knew Perth could hurt us. It was about concentration for us, which was hard in the heat.”

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

Scorers: Taylor-Young 87.

PERTH GLORY: Alfeld, De la Harpe, Anton, Carroll, Rigby, Steinmetz, Lowry, Tabain, McKenna, Jukic, Doeglas. Substitutes: Bennett (GK), Moreno, Charalambous, Morgan, Gale.

Scorers: Anton 86.

Referee: Rebecca Durcau.

Attendance: 1,041.

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	GD
Sydney FC	3	3	0	0	7	1	9	+ 6
Adelaide United	4	3	0	1	8	6	9	+ 2
Canberra United	3	2	2	0	8	6	8	+ 2
Brisbane Roar	5	1	4	0	8	2	6	+ 4
Newcastle Jets	4	1	1	2	7	6	4	+ 1
Melbourne Victory	4	1	1	2	8	9	4	– 1
Melbourne City	5	1	1	3	5	12	4	– 7
Western Sydney Wanderers	4	1	0	3	3	10	3	– 7
Perth Glory	3	0	1	2	2	4	1	– 2

Allan Adds Fuel To Jets’ Fire

Newcastle Jets 4–1 Western Sydney Wanderers

By Kieran Yap.

At the inconspicuously named Number Two Sportsground in Newcastle, the Jets hosted the Wanderers in search of their first win of the season and revenge for a 2-1 loss a few weeks prior.

What transpired was an eventful, entertaining, fast paced and sometimes ill-tempered match that had everything a neutral fan could want.

Newcastle started with an unchanged line-up, lead from the front by the in-form Tara Andrews and an midfield anchored by Alisha Bass and Cass Davis in support of Rhianna Poccicina, Sunny Franco and Lauren Allen.

The Wanderers’ Rosie Galea scored a brace in the previous encounter and they would have been hopeful of another win in what has been a difficult start to the season.

The game was fast paced from the start, both teams looked to attack and make the most of their wingers, Georgia Yeoman-Dale looked dangerous early, testing out the Jets fullback Tessa Tamplin and getting in the first cross of the afternoon but it was the Jets who struck first.

Just seven minutes in, Rhianna Pollicina received the ball in space and had the time and skill to slide a pass beyond the Wanderers defenders and into the path of the fleet-footed Lauren Allen. The Jets winger took what looked to be a heavy first touch but had enough pace to be in control, her second touch was a flick of the right boot to put the ball beyond Courtney Newbon to score.

**Above:** Lauren Allan celebrates her first strike for Newcastle Jets against Western Sydney Wanderers. **Photo:** @NewcastleJetsFC

Western Sydney hit back almost immediately, Yeoman-Dale picked up a loose ball just inside half way and a burst of acceleration took her into space on the left wing, she cut inside and unleashed a strike in the net from the edge of the box that left Claire Coelho with no chance.

The game momentarily became tense but no less entertaining, a tussle between Galea and Hannah Brewer resulted in both players being yellow carded and Newcastle sent wave after waves of attack at the Wanderers. If not for Newbon saving spectacularly from an Andrews free kick they would have conceded again.

Sunny Franco has been in stellar form and demanded attention, but she was lucky that her reaction to Nikola Orgill’s shove went unpinished. She kicked out at the defender fortunately for both players the missed but made her frustrations known by throwing the ball at the back of Orgill’s head as she walked away. She was surprisingly not carded but the Jets had a free kick in a dangerous area.

The ball was floated into the box by Gemma Simon, Newbon was forced to come for it but collided with Orgill and Andrews managed to flick it on, Lauren Allen jumped highest and headed into the net for her second goal. Newcastle were 2-1 up. In the chaos Orgill was collected by her ‘keeper and momentarily went off to test for possible concussion.

**Above:** Sunny Franco (second right) jumps high to join the Newcastle celebrations. **Photo:** @NewcastleJetsFC

Newcastle had the momentum, another clever Pollicina pass was touched just wide by Sunny Franco who had snuck behind the defense with Allen leaving Newbon stranded and relieved to see it miss.

By half time The Jets were 3-1 up, another high ball into the area, this time from Tessa Tamplin should have been easily collected by Newbon but it was uncharacteristically fumbled, the ball dropped almost directly onto the boot of Tara Andrews and the number nine needed no second invitation to score for the fourth game in a row.

The second half was more of the same from a confident and dominant Jets team. Tara Andrews was putting on a clinic of forward play, she slipped in a brilliant pass for Allen again but under pressure the shot bobbled wide.

In the 53^rd minute Gemma Simon got on the score sheet, the Jets captain drifted forward and got onto the end of a Hannah Brewer long pass, she rounded the ‘keeper and tapped in for a rare goal.

Andrews remained the most dangerous player until she was substituted for a well earned rest, she again fed the ball into the path of Allen who took it past Newbon but the ball ran out and she was denied a third goal.

**Above:** Tara Andrews competes with Wanderers keeper Courtney Newbon. **Photo:** @NewcastleJetsFC

The score remained at 4-1 until the final whistle, Newcastle have scored in every game but this was their first win of the season. They had been quiet in a pre-season absent of big news or major signings but have been impressive in 2021. Any worries about potential off field turmoil have not affected Ash Wilson’s well-balanced and entertaining team.

They might not be the team to beat just yet but they are a team to watch, their home ground remains named Number Two Sportsground for the time being but if her form continues they might want to rename it The Tara Andrews Stage.

Teams: NEWCASTLE JETS: Coelho, Tamplin, Simon, King, Brewer, Davis, Franco, Pollicina, Bass, Allan, Andrews. Substitutes: Simonsen (GK), Jaber, Petratos, Harding, House.

Scorers: Allan 8, 33. Andrews 44. Simon 53.

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

Scorer: Yeoman-Dale 11.

Referee: Casey Reibelt.

Brisbane Find Their Roar At Last

Brisbane Roar 6–0 Melbourne Victory

By Kris Goman

This game, played at the Gold Coast Sports Centre, rather than within Brisbane, looked to provide a fascinating match-up. The Roar have had four draws in a row which is previously unheard of. On paper I personally thought they’d be the team to beat not the team to draw with. Victory thrashed last year’s champions, Melbourne City, two weeks ago in a record breaking match but then were beaten, but only just, last week by the same team in the reverse derby.

Thankfully Victory haven’t brought the men’s active support with them tonight after the disgraceful incident last week with some individuals throwing bottles onto the pitch. The Roar Corps, the Brisbane Roar women’s active support have set up in the corner and look the part.

Katrina Gorry isn’t playing tonight and the Roar midfield may suffer as a result but we’ll see. It’s only Gorry and Emily Gielnik that have scored for the Roar to date so her talents and long range bombs will be missed. But Tameka Yallop is back in and brings her own talents. Lisa De Vanna is still out for Victory so it seems even.

**Above:** Brisbane Roar’s Jamilla Rankin causing problems down the flank. **Photo:** @brisbaneroar

Victory kick off. Roar get a couple of corners after Mariel Hecher takes a run down the right but both come to naught.

Kyra Cooney-Cross tries a very long range shot from the right but it’s not on target and doesn’t have enough on it to worry Worth.
A slightly slow play back to Georgina Worth sees Polly Doran rush the keeper but Worth clears it just in time.

Victory pressed again and Cooney-Cross takes another long shot and it’s deflected out by Worth for a corner. The corner goes straight out in a wasted opportunity for Victory. Amy Jackson comes through on the burst and takes a shot but it’s deflected out again safely.

On a transition, Victory keeper Gabriella Ganton and Gielnik are both rushing for the ball. Ganton just wins and clears.

At 26 minutes, Roar make Victory pay for an inability to take chances when Matildas star Gielnik crosses the ball to Hecher who taps it in for her first W League goal. Roar take the lead 1-0.

**Above:** Mariel Hecher celebrates her goal for Brisbane. **Photo:** @brisbaneroar

Victory have a pretty sharp passing game when they have possession but they aren’t always keeping possession.

Brisbane came again and Gielnik flicks a ball forward in the box to Yallop and it’s looking dangerous but Ganton throws herself on it to avoid another goal.

Claudia Bunge gets a cross in from the right and Cooney-Cross can’t control her first touch so doesn’t get the opportunity to shoot. Catherine Zimmerman takes another crack but it’s foiled too. It was a good push by Victory who certainly aren’t giving up.

Sharn Freier dribbles down the left then passes to Gielnik who smashes it straight into the stomach of one of the Victory defence then pushes her over. There’s no penalty or whistle and the game moves on. Sometime after, Olivia Chance then gets another shot directly in front and gets some pace on it but Ganton tips it over spectacularly for a corner.

The corner comes to the near post and is cleared by Victory to Yallop who twists and turns and gets a shot away which connects with the left post and bounces in to double Brisbane’s lead. The Roar are finally looking like the team we all think they should be and Yallop gets her first goal of the season.

**Above:** A banner supporting Brisbane Roar’s Kiwi star Olivia Chance on Friday night. **Photo:** @brisbaneroar.

Victory continue to attack and a cross comes to Melinda Ayres who tries a bicycle kick but she doesn’t quite get the direction or power right and it’s safe with the keeper. Still looked pretty impressive though.

Back up the other end and Chance sends through a perfect pass to Gielnik on the right on the box. She sends the ball across the face of the goal but no one is there to redirect it.

Clare Polkinghorne comes up from the back to midfield and drives the ball up the middle into the box for Gielnik but she can’t beat Ganton to the ball this time.
Just before half time, Yallop goes down and requires treatment and two minutes of extra time is added. The ball is given back to Victory but nothing much comes of it and the half time whistle blows.

It’s now the second half and Yallop is back on and seems to be OK. There’s a number of possession changes and Polkinghorne is back up the field again and once more feeds Gielnik but she’s offside this time.

Shortly afterwards, we find Cooney-Cross with the ball in the box dancing around Winonah Heatley before she crosses it. Amy Jackson can’t quite reach it but it continues on to Melina Ayres who smashes it into the crossbar and it flicks over and out.

Brisbane make the same play twice with Hecher bringing the ball down the centre or right, passing to Yallop then crossing to Gielnik. The second time Gielnik is by the near post but can’t get it in and misses goal. It’s a successful tactic but just isn’t finishing as hoped.

Brisbane push on again and a very long and perfectly weighted ball arrives to Gielnik in the box but she wasn’t quite expecting it and Ganton grabs it before she can get there.

A little later, Brisbane get a corner and Mariel Hecher takes it. She lobs it to Gielnik who has to almost dive to head it behind her and it bounces onto the crossbar and out. She can’t take a trick tonight.

**Above:** There was plenty to get the Brisbane fans roaring on the Gold Coast. **Photo:** @brisbaneroar

Kyra Cooney-Cross gets another run up the centre towards the box and sends it right to Privatelli who crosses. It is right across the face of goal but no one is there in time and it’s a goal kick for Brisbane.

Victory are pressing quite high and get possession back. Beard brings it forward, lays it off then gets it back on a run into the box. She gets a solid on-target shot away but it’s straight into the arms of Georgina Worth. Probably Victory’s best attempt to date.

A ball down the right sees a Hecher cross. It misses a couple of players but Sharn Freier brings it under control, dribbles around the defence to get a clear shot and fires a bullet to the far post from the left. It goes straight past Ganton into the back of the net. 3-0 and Brisbane consolidates their position. It’s a long way back for Victory now, who were looking pretty gung ho immediately prior to that goal.

A Brisbane free kick by Isobel Dalton on the left is played to an unmarked Olivia Chance in the middle. She lobs it over the wall to Yallop who gets her foot to it but it just goes over the crossbar in a heart stopping moment for Victory.

At 74 minutes there’s another free kick from almost exactly the same spot as the last one and Dalton is taking it again. This time it’s straight into the box and onto Gielnik’s head. She’s to the far left of goal and somehow flicks it up so that it lands on the top right of goal evading Ganton’s outstretched glove and hits the back of the net. 4-0 and Gielnik gets a well-deserved goal after many close attempts. Brisbane have an unassailable lead.

**Above:** Two more goals for Emily Gielnik against Melbourne Victory. **Photo:** @brisbaneroar

At 79 minutes Yallop brings the ball down the middle into the box and evades two defenders, shoots but hits the crossbar. It rebounds to the left of Hecher who takes a high left footed kick and it just dribbles past Ganton, who hasn’t recovered from Yallop’s shot yet, and into goal but the flag goes up for offside against Hecher.

Chance also gets a shot on goal from the left which clears the crossbar but forces a big air jump by Ganton.

In the dying minutes of the game, Victory are pressing again to no avail when Anna Margraf takes the ball down the right for Brisbane. She sends a long switch to Gielnik, right in front of goal. She just gets past Ganton who’s on the ground but she skies it into the large fence behind goals.

In the last minute of normal time, Victory are once again pressing. In a repeat of what just happened, Margraf sends another long ball to the centre which is picked up by Gielnik just past half way. She beats her marker and is in the clear with just Ganton between her and the goal. She has an unchallenged run into the box. Ganton comes out but Gielnik takes her time and tucks it past on the left for the long awaited fifth goal. It’s now 5-0 after 90:22 minutes.

With stoppage time ticking on, Victory’s Mindy Barbieri manages to get a yellow for taking out Torpey in what must be her first touch of the match and a free kick is awarded to Brisbane. Dalton goes for goal. It hits Ganton’s glove then onto the crossbar and bounces onto Heatley’s shoulder, who has rushed in front of goal, and she nudges it in for the sixth. Now Victory really know how Melbourne City felt on the end of a 6-0 thrashing.

**Above:** (from left to right) Kim Carroll, Georgina Worth and Clare Polkinghorne celebrate with Winonah Heatley after she completed the rout. **Photo:** @brisbaneroar.

Brisbane have finally answered all the questions that have been asked about their performance. It was a dominating win showing no mercy. Ganton made some good saves but if Roar were a little more clinical it could have easily been 10-0. I doubt too many Roar fans are complaining though.

The Roar have obviously been working on their attack as their defence hasn’t really had any problem to date. The linking through the midfield was on point tonight. Gielnik’s positioning was causing all sorts of problems for the Victory defence and Yallop and Hecher kept them on their toes too. They all look sharp and are working as a team which is what was lacking a bit before. On this performance, they really do look the team to beat but have they left their run too late, five games into the season? I guess anything can happen as has been shown numerous times already this season.

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

Scorers: Hecher 26. Yallop 39. Freier 64. Gielnik 76, 90+1. Heatley 90+5.

MELBOURNE VICTORY: Garton, Privitelli, Beard, Bunge, Morrison, Cooney-Cross, Doran, Jackson, Barbieri, Zimmerman, Ayres. Substitutes: Maizels (GK), Markovski, Martineau, Zois.

Referee: Lara Lee.

Attendance: 1,455.

Big Statement From Reds

Adelaide United 2–1 Melbourne City

By Kieran Yap.

Adelaide entered this round hoping to win three in a row but were missing American star Mallory Weber. Melbourne City were without talismanic defender Jenna McCormick but were brimming with confidence after their win in the derby last week. City had never lost to the Reds, but they had also never played in them in Adelaide before.

Both teams began aggressively, Alex Chidiac was threatening early and in the tenth minute bustled and tricked her way through four Adelaide defenders but could only find the side netting after running slightly wide.

**Above:** Alex Chidiac’s (centre) best efforts were not enough to prevent Melbourne City’s defeat. **Photo:** @MelbourneCity

City tried to defy the 32 degree heat and press Adelaide the way they did Victory the week before and although they created some turnovers in dangerous positions, the Adelaide defence were able to deal with it although on a couple of occasions they had to resort to a cheeky professional foul.

With City playing both Rhali Dobson and Harriet Withers on the flanks it meant that last week’s attacking revelation Charlotte Grant was forced to play much more defensively. While last week her pace going forward was electrifying this week she utilized it to keep tabs on the two speedsters who were vital in last week’s derby win.

The press was working and the Reds were having trouble passing the ball through midfield so in the 31^st minute they bypassed it completely to open the scoring. A long ball from a free kick deep in defence fell to Fiona Worts who exchanged passes with Maria Rojas before slipping a ball behind the City defence. Adelaide captain Dylan Holmes raced onto it and skipped around Teagan Micah in goals to finish into an empty net.

**Above:** Adelaide Untied celebrate Dylan Holmes’ strike. **Photo:** @AUFCWomen

After the goal, Adelaide enjoyed their best period of the game, Worts delighted the crowd with a fluid 360^o move to show that Cote Rojas is not the only Red with a bag of tricks and soon after saw her looping header bounce off the crossbar.

City kept trying though. Shinatsu Kira drew a free kick in a dangerous area around 20 yards out from goal and took it herself. She curled the shot around the wall and it looked destined for the top corner but somehow the Reds ‘keeper Fryer-McLaren managed to dive high, stretch out and save spectacularly. Kira already had her arms raised in celebration, she adapted smoothly to put her hands to her head in dismay in the way you might when you wave to somebody and then realize you don’t know them.

City were again unlucky not to equalize when Rhali Dobson’s well struck volley crashed off the post and Chidiac couldn’t keep the rebound down. Emma checker had the last meaningful chance from a corner, her header just whizzed over the bar.

The second half was end to end football, Melbourne City were pushing for an equalizer and Adelaide trying to counter-attack and slip more passes beyond the defenders. Again Adelaide were the ones to score and like the opener it was seemingly out of nothing. Hollie Palmer collected the ball in midfield and was looking for play the ball forward for City as she had done effectively most of the game. Dylan Holmes dispossessed her solidly and while the Melbourne defence were back peddling into position she unleashed a missile of a shot into the bottom corner from long range. The captain had a brace and Adelaide looked to be on their way to a historic first win over City.

**Above:** Dylan Holmes fires in hers and Adelaide United’s second goal of the evening. **Photo:** @AUFCWomen

The visitors kept trying but when Rhali Dobson was substituted after a clearance hit her in the face they lost one of their most dangerous attacking threats. Adelaide grew in confidence and although they were without large percentages of possession they looked in control of the game. Rojas had limited chances to get on the score sheet but should make the highlight reel with a joyous juggle between defenders. She eventually fell on the ball, but somehow turned, shielded it and moved it along.

Two minutes into extra time, Palmer made amends for her earlier mistake and delivered a precision free kick onto the head of Emma Checker who scored her first of the season. It was a deliberate set piece, Palmer gave a signal, curled the ball in and Checker buried the chance to give her team a lifeline late in the game.

**Above:** Adelaide United coach Adrian Stenta has a lot to be proud of as his team push strongly for a first ever finals spot. **Photo:** @AUFCWomen

Adelaide held on in a tense finish, they had won their third game in a row and so far are exceeding all pre-season expectations. They have scored in every encounter so far, often spectacularly and have in Rojas and Worts two of the best signings of the league. They beat Melbourne City for the first time in their history and did it without one of their best players in Mallory Weber. It might be too soon to declare they will make finals, but they certainly look good enough.

Teams: ADELAIDE UNITED: Fryer-McLaren, Grant, I. Hodgson, McNamara, Walder, Campagnale, Rojas, Holmes, Worts, Condon, Dawber. Substitutes: Grove (GK), E. Hodgson, Hogg, Kirkby, Mullan.

Scorers: Holmes 31, 53.

MELBOURNE CITY: Micah, Tumeth, Vlajnic, Checker, Johnson, Davidson, Withers, Chidiac, Dobson, Kira, Palmer. Substitutes: Barbieri (GK), Allen, Sardo, Cain, Robinne.

Scorer: Checker 90+3.

Referee: Isabella Blaess.

Attendance: 912.