Impetus editor Ben Gilby reports on the ninth weekend of action in the Westfield W League which saw five of the nine teams in action and a shock change at the top of the table.

Previously unbeaten championship challengers Western Sydney Wanderers suffered a shock 4-0 thumping at home to Brisbane Roar in front of 1,186 at Marconi Park.

The Wanderers, returning after a bye last week were without their star striker Lynn Williams who was away with the United States side, but regardless the plaudits need to be given to the Queenslanders who started on the front foot and never stepped off the gas throughout.

Chloe Raso and Clare Polkinghorne had great chances in the opening period with Western Sydney relieved that their keeper Abby Smith was in top form. Rylee Baisden was also denied by home defender Sam Staab’s block tackle as Roar racked up fourteen efforts at goal in the first half alone. Kristen Hamilton had a rare chance for Wanderers but Mackenzie Arnold in the Brisbane goal denied her.

The second half saw the Queenslanders keep up the momentum and an incredible period saw them score four times in just eighteen minutes. First, Elise Kellond-Knight played a delightful ball through to fellow Matilda Hayley Raso whose shot came back off the post and into the path of Allira Toby who couldn’t miss. Ten minutes later, Brisbane doubled their lead when Raso pounced on Alex Huynh’s mistake and arrowed a shot straight in from twenty yards.

It was 3-0 when eighteen year-old Leah Davidson hit her first ever W League goal after being played in by a perfect pass from Hollie Arnold. Allira Toby completed the rout on seventy minutes. It could have got even worse for Western Sydney Wanderers as Hayley Raso had two further opportunities. How the Wanderers respond to this setback will be the key to their title hopes, and they have now stumbled to third in the table.

Melbourne City took advantage of Wanderers’ stumble to go six points clear at the top of the table – albeit having played a game more – with a comprehensive 4-0 win over Canberra United at ABD Stadium in Broadmeadows.

A larger than average crowd of 747 were treated to a Sky Blue command performance which extended their incredible run to seven straight wins.

It took just seven minutes for City to get on the board and it was Kyah Simon, recalled to the Australian national side for their Olympic qualifying squad a few days previously, on the target. She cleared the attentions of Olivia Price and rocketed the ball in from 20 yards.

Steph Catley and the prolific Milica Mijatovic missed opportunities before City doubled their lead when Canberra keeper Sham Khamis felled Sky Blues striker Claire Emslie in the box. The Scot dispatched the spot kick herself.

It was 3-0 just before the break in a virtual carbon copy of the events that brought about the second goal as Khamis again brought down Emslie. This time, Kyah Simon’s penalty was successful.

Emily van Egmond completed the rout after seventy-six minutes when she was played in by Rhali Dobson and then hit a spectacular thirty yard effort. It was a comfortable win for City who have taken a major step towards clinching the minor premiership.

Four days later, Canberra United were back in action, this time at home to Sydney FC, and sadly for the capital city side, they suffered a second consecutive four goal defeat.

The game was originally scheduled to be played on 5^th January, but was cancelled due to the poor air quality over Canberra due to the catastrophic bush fires. The knock on effect of this was that whilst the home side were playing for the second time in four days, this was Sydney’s first game of 2020, and extra freshness showed.

Frustratingly for the home crowd of 1,473, Sydney dominated from the start. Sofia Huerta and Chloe Logarzo went close before W League top scorer Remy Siemsen met Teresa Polias’ free kick with a stunning header after eighteen minutes.

Elise Thorsnes had a chance to level shortly afterwards, but Sydney keeper Aubrey Bledsoe kept her effort out. The home side paid the price for the miss just after the half hour mark when Logarzo and Siemsen combined to play in Veronica Latkso to fire in her first strike of the season – and her first goal in a sky blue shirt since moving from Adelaide United.

The outcome of the game was decided on forty-nine minutes and it was a glorious move. Caitlin Foord weaved her way down the right and her ball was knocked home by the back heel of fellow Matilda Chloe Logarzo.

The fourth arrived with twenty minutes to go when another ball from the right from Foord was smashed home by Sofia Huerta.

Latest Westfield W League Table:

Teams in bold qualify for the Finals play-offs.

Last weekend saw a further three matches in the Westfield W League. Impetus editor Ben Gilby reports.

Melbourne City took advantage of previous leaders Western Sydney Wanderers being one of three teams with a bye to replace the New South Wales side at the top of the table after recording an impressive 2-0 win at Brisbane Roar in front of 2,693 fans at Redcliffe’s Dolphin Stadium.

With no game for the past two weeks, some City fans may have been concerned that their side might be rusty, but any fears were dispelled when the Sky Blues took the lead after just six minutes. Yukari Kinga played in Australian international Steph Catley, and her cross was diverted straight into the path of Melbourne City forward Milica Mijatovic by Roar goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold, and the Serbian striker couldn’t miss.

Brisbane hit back strongly, with Matildas star Hayley Raso denied three times – first from a header which Lydia Williams saved, then her fierce effort crashed off of the bar and a third effort which failed to trouble Williams.

Melbourne could have settled matters when they awarded a penalty after Aivi Luik was fouled by Katrina Gorry. Steph Catley’s spot kick was comfortably saved by Arnold. However, the second goal finally came when Mijatovic played in Luik who smashed the winner home.

Melbourne Victory took advantage of Brisbane’s defeat to replace them in the top four following a 2-1 win over Newcastle Jets in front of an impressive crowd of 4,961 at AAMI Park.

It took just ten minutes for Victory to take the lead thanks to Natasha Dowie’s goal which came at the end of a great build-up. Lia Privitelli played in Darian Jenkins whose cross was flicked on by Rosie Sutton for Dowie to head home.

Melbourne’s lead was doubled fifteen minutes later when Sutton’s header came back off the post and Jenkins prodded the ball in.

Despite Victory continuing to push forward, the only remaining goal of the game went Newcastle’s way. Tara Andrews’ cross rebounded off of Melbourne’s Rosie Sutton into the path of Gema Simon and the Jets left-back’s shot went in off of the post.

The remaining game of the round took place at the Marden Sports Complex where Adelaide United hosted Perth Glory in the battle of the only two sides yet to win a game this season.

Perth started strongly but due to a combination of poor finishing and fine goalkeeping from Sarah Willacy in the United goal, had nothing to show for it.

The South Australians punished Glory for the profligacy when Chelsie Dawber was played in and coolly slotted past Glory keeper Eliza Campbell. Just before half-time, it was 2-0 to Adelaide when Dawber turned creator to play in Mary Fowler who smashed the ball into the corner of the net.

The vast majority of the 565 spectators were in dreamland, but to their credit, Perth came out firing at the start of the second half.

Within seven minutes of the restart they were back in it when Crystal Thomas ran onto a through ball, turned a Reds defender and hit a lovely shot into the top corner.

Perth were going all out for the equaliser and Adelaide almost caught them when Mary Fowler’s effort went narrowly wide and Charlotte Grant hit a shot over the bar.

Just as it looked like Adelaide would earn their first three points of the season, Glory were awarded a penalty in the third minute of stoppage time and up stepped Morgan Andrews to earn Perth a share of the spoils – and leaving both teams still searching for their first wins.

Western Sydney Wanderers, Canberra United and Sydney FC were all not in action. The next round of matches takes place between 9-12^th January with Sydney FC, Adelaide United and Perth Glory all receiving a bye during that weekend.

Latest Westfield W League Table:

Teams in bold qualify for the Finals play-offs.

There’s new leaders in the Westfield W League after the seventh round of matches. Impetus editor Ben Gilby reports.

Western Sydney Wanderers have capped their outstanding start to the season by ending 2019 as W League leaders. Dean Heffernan’s side, who have never previously won more than four games in a season in the club’s history before, recorded their fifth win of this campaign in some style with a 4-0 thumping of Canberra United, taking their goal tally in the last two games to nine with none conceded in the same period.  

After a fairly even start to the game at McKellar Park in the ACT, it was the Black and Reds who took the lead seven minutes before the break and it was seventeen year-old Aussie starlet Kyra Cooney-Cross who looped a header over Canberra keeper Sham Khamis from Erica Holloway’s cross.  

Canberra continued to create chances, but, crucially, they failed to take advantage. The ‘Wander Women’ made them pay in some style. Republic of Ireland international Denise O’Sullivan had previously narrowly missed on two occasions, but on 69 minutes there was no denying her as she fired in from the edge of the area.

To the disappointment of the 1,243 crowd, the Parramatta based side added two further goals in a four minute spell. It was their supremely dangerous pair of Kristen Hamilton and Lynn Williams on the scoresheet yet again to ensure their side ended 2019 at the summit.

Melbourne City had the bye and are now second on goal difference from Western Sydney Wanderers.

Sydney FC are third, just a point behind the top two after requiring two late goals to see off winless Adelaide United at Jubilee Stadium.

After well over an hour of nip and tuck, which saw Adelaide create a number of excellent chances – notably for Lais Araujo and Mallory Webber – United’s hopes of gaining an unlikely point out of the game were crushed. Remy Siemsen’s cross took a wicked deflection off of the South Australian’s defender Amber Brooks and flew into the net.

It was the sort of luck that dogs a team struggling at the foot of the league table, and things got worse as the clock moved into stoppage time at the end of the game when a firecracker of a shot from Princess Ibini rocketed in to the delight of the excellent Kogorah crowd of 3,373.

Brisbane Roar took advantage of Canberra’s heavy loss to Western Sydney Wanderers to enter the finals places for the first time this season thanks to a 2-1 win over Newcastle Jets at Lions Stadium.

An excellent crowd of 2,189 gathered to welcome home Queensland’s Matildas legend Elise Kellond-Knight, and the Roar started on the front foot with Jets’ keeper Claire Coelho constantly denying the home side – first when she tipped Hayley Raso’s shot past the post and then keeping out Carson Picket’s effort. If those saves weren’t important enough, Coelho then rustled up another four outstanding stops with Raso, Tameka Yallop, Natalie Tathem and Katrina Grey all seeing their efforts kept out.

To add to the Brisbane frustration, it was Newcastle who eventually took the lead, with a textbook counter attack which ended with Tara Andrews smashing a half volley into the net.

Just before the break though, the Queenslanders finally made the breakthrough when Isobel Dalton’s cross was nodded in by Matilda’s legend Claire Polkinghorne.

Despite creating a hatful of opportunities in the second half, Brisbane could only add one further goal, but it was enough to gain the win and a place in the top four when eighteen year-old Hollie Palmer responded quickest to Carson Picket’s shot which came back off of the crossbar. Brisbane made hard work of the win, but now they are in the finals places, they are going to be very tough to shift.

The final match of the round saw Melbourne Victory gain only their second win of the season after returning from Western Australia with a 2-1 win over a Perth Glory side who are experiencing a tough run of results.

Perth started the game positively and Kat Jukic saw a magnificent effort come crashing back off of the post with Victory keeper Casey Dumont beaten all ends up. Another golden opportunity slipped away from Glory after Crystal Thomas’ feeble attempt at a spot kick, which was awarded after she was taken out by Emily Menges.

Melbourne picked themselves off of the canvas and hit Perth with a sucker punch when Amy Jackson’s long range scorcher cannoned off of the crossbar and down into the goal.

Eight minutes into the second half, Melbourne – and Jackson – doubled their tally after a game of penalty box pinball. Natasha Dowie and Rosie Sutton had efforts blocked before Jackson headed the ball in from virtually on the goal line.

Perth responded well to this latest misfortune and got a goal back when Leticia McKenna capitalised on a defensive disaster from Victory’s Emily Menges to fire home off of the post. Try as Perth might, they could not find an equaliser, and it was another tough result to take for a poor Dorrien Gardens crowd of 618.

The next round of matches in the Westfield W League take place between 2^nd and 5^th January. Impetus will have all the news from Round Eight next week.

Latest Westfield W League Table:

Teams in bold qualify for the Finals play-offs.

It was an incredible sixth week of action in the Westfield W League. Impetus editor Ben Gilby reports.

Melbourne City are still unbeaten and top of the W League courtesy of a 1-0 win at home to Perth Glory in front of 600 spectators at ABD Stadium in Broadmeadows, some ten miles outside Victoria’s capital. However, thanks to an astonishing result in Sydney, their grip on first place is more tenuous than previously.

City dominated the encounter against last season’s beaten Grand Finalists, but struggled to make the breakthrough in the face of a superb display from Perth’s defence and goalkeeper Eliza Campbell.

The Sky Blues’ first opportunity came courtesy of Emily van Egmond, whose free-kick went wide. Defensively, the Western Australians were strong and were only seen offensively on the occasional counter attack. They did though have an opportunity through Morgan Andrews who capitalised on a mistake from Ellie Carpenter and hit her shot agonisingly wide.

Melbourne City made the breakthrough on the hour mark. Matildas’ Steph Catley’s free kick rocked the crossbar and New Zealand international Rebekah Stott reacted quickest to bundle the ball home. The hosts could have increased their winning margin, but Ellie Carpenter’s shot from van Egmond’s cutback hit the side netting, and Campbell made a superb save from Scottish star Claire Emslie. City ran out 1-0 winners in front of 600 spectators at ABD Stadium

Whilst Melbourne City stand three points clear at the top, Western Sydney Wanderers could remove them over the Christmas period when they play their game in hand. This is due to a quite staggering 5-0 win for the Wanderers over defending W League champions Sydney FC in front of a delirious home crowd of 2,233 in Parramatta.

The Black and Reds, who have almost recorded more points already in this campaign than they did in the whole of the past two seasons chalked up their first victory over their cross city rivals for five years in real style which lays down a significant marker for the rest of the 2019/20 season.

Western Sydney Wanderers started on fire, and built a two goal lead after just seven minutes. First, Lynn Williams strode purposefully down the right wing and found Kristen Hamilton. She in turn laid it back to Amy Harrison who hit it into the far left hand corner of the net out of the reach of Sydney keeper Audrey Bledsoe.

Shortly less than two minutes later, the home side doubled their lead, with Williams and Hamilton playing another influential role. Williams’ ball to the far post saw Kyra Cooney-Cross have all the time in the world to head home.

Just before the break it was 3-0 with Cooney-Cross firing home a stunning strike. Amy Harrison received great pass from Williams. The scorer of Wanderers’ first goal played it to Cooney-Cross in the middle, just outside the area, and the ball was curled into the far corner.

Kristen Hamilton, who was giving Sydney major headaches all afternoon long, was involved in the fourth when she broke clear and played a ball in. Lynn Williams slid the ball into the net.

Wanderers were rampant and the shell-shocked visitors needed Audrey Bledsoe to make two stunning saves, but even she could not prevent a fifth goal at Bankwest Stadium. It was Lynn Williams who sealed her brace when she rounded Bledsoe and rolled the ball in to joyous scenes amid arguably the greatest result in Western Sydney Wanderers Women’s history.

Adelaide United’s winless start to the campaign continued after a 2-1 loss to fourth placed Canberra United in front of 693 supporters at the Marden Sports Complex.

Despite having the best of the opening exchanges, Adelaide went behind after ten minutes thanks to the record equalling 42^nd W League goal from Canberra hot shot Leena Khamis, who fired a fierce effort from the edge of the area.

The South Australian hosts will rue a host of missed chances to level the score-line. Mary Fowler really should have scored when she rounded the visitors’ keeper but Kahlia Hogg cleared. Chelsie Dawber had another golden opportunity for Adelaide, but Olivia Price saved Canberra. They paid the price for this profligacy when seventeen year-old Canberra midfielder Hayley Taylor-Young crashed home her first ever W League goal after Adelaide failed to clear Camila’s corner.

Adelaide United finally got on the scoresheet in the closing stages through Emily Condon, but it was far too little too late as the home side look in danger of being marooned at the bottom of the table.

The final game of the round took place at Epping Stadium where Melbourne Victory’s disappointing start to the campaign took a positive twist after they ended Brisbane Roar’s excellent run of form after they earned a 0-0 draw in front of 406 spectators. It is important to state that this poor looking crowd figure was impacted by the game being moved to a 10:30am kick-off in order to avoid forecast temperatures of 43^oC (109^oF).

The Queenslanders had the best of the early opportunities as Rylee Baisden and Tameka Yallop were particularly prominent. Roar were also faced by a Melbourne Victory keeper in Casey Dumont (herself a former Brisbane custodian) who was in outstanding form – particularly in denying both Baisden and Hollie Palmer in quick succession. Katrina Gorry spooned another Roar effort over the bar.

After the break, with temperatures hitting the high thirties in centigrade, Melbourne got a foothold in the game, but they had no better luck in front of goal than Brisbane.

The next round of matches in the Westfield W League take place between Boxing Day and 29^th December. Impetus will have all the news from Round Seven on 30^th December.

Latest Westfield W League Table:

Teams in bold qualify for the Finals play-offs.