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W League Round-Up

Impetus editor Ben Gilby reviews the fifth round of action in the Westfield W League as leaders Melbourne City cemented their lead at the top of the table.

It was a perfect weekend for Melbourne City who remain top of the table following victory in their derby day clash with Melbourne Victory at ABD Stadium.

A season’s best crowd of 907 gathered at the stadium in Broadmeadows, nine miles outside of the city centre, but they had to wait until the very end of the cross city clash for the winning goal to go in.

City dominated the game from start to finish, with their Matildas stars Emily van Egmond and Steph Catley particularly impressive. It was only thanks to Casey Dumont repeatedly saving her side that Victory remained on terms with City until the closing stages.

Scottish star Claire Emslie had an early chance for the Sky Blues, but she blazed over before van Egmond forced the first of Dumont’s heroics. The Victory keeper pulled out another save just before the half hour mark when she saved van Egmond’s penalty which was awarded when Teigen Allen handled Ellie Carpenter’s cross.

On the rare occasion that Dumont was beaten, her defence came to her aid when Melbourne Victory defender Janna McCormick blocked Milica Mijatovic’s goalbound shot.

The pressure continued until the penultimate minute when Steph Catley put in a teasing cross and Yukari Kinga, holder of a century of Japanese caps swept home the winner. Melbourne City’s first win over Victory since 2017 ensured that they now stand a point clear at the top of the table. The loss sees last season’s minor premiers much further down the table than they would like to be at this stage of the campaign.

Sydney FC are leading the chasing pack following a comfortable 2-0 win away from home at fellow New South Wales outfit Newcastle Jets in front of a crowd of 2,513 at McDonald Jones Stadium.

The men from the Harbour City were determined to get their title defence back on track after suffering their first loss for the campaign last weekend to fellow championship challengers Melbourne City, and they were out of the blocks faster than an Olympic sprinter. With just thirty second gone, Caitlin Forde’s mazy run past four defenders saw her force Newcastle keeper Claire Coelho into a fine save.

Sydney’s Australian internationals continued to pose problems and Chloe Logarzo fired in a powerful effort which Coelho dealt with well. Just prior to the half hour mark, Sydney missed a third opportunity when Teresa Polias’ attempted lob of the Jets keeper from around 25 yards was pushed over her bar by Coelho.

Just three minutes later, the Sky Blues finally took the lead. Angelique Hristodoulou sent over a pin point cross for Remy Siemsen to head home.

Shortly afterwards it was 2-0 following a goalkeeping howler from Coelho whose attempted clearance went straight to Siemsen who controlled the ball and had all the time in the world to roll it into the net.

Coelho made amends for the error by keeping the visitors out during the second stanza. Newcastle Jets had their own chances to hit back after the break, and it was only two fine stops from Sydney stopper Aubrey Bledsoe who palmed Hannah Brewer’s shot around the post and then blocked a long range effort from Libby Copus-Brown, as Sydney left the port city with all three points.

Western Sydney Wanderers, who had the bye remain in third place ahead of their huge cross city derby with Sydney FC this Friday night.

Canberra United stay fourth after they earned a point from their trip across country to Perth Glory at Dorrien Gardens.

Glory’s transitional season after making three Grand Finals in the last five years has been incredibly challenging so far with three straight defeats. This, in conjunction with the loss of Western Australian superstar Sam Kerr from their roster probably goes some way to explain the exceptionally disappointing attendance of just 365 in West Perth.

Canberra had the better of the game and would have left Western Australia disappointed not to have earned all three points. They took the lead after fifteen minutes when Kayleigh Kurtz’s long ball through was met by Simone Charley, with the American hitting a shot home past Eliza Campbell.

United then missed four golden chances to seal victory. First, their star Elise Thorsnes’ shot went narrowly wide before Leena Khamis sent an effort crashing against the angle of bar and post. Perth keeper Eliza Campbell then needed to be at her best to deny both Karly Roestbakken and Camila.

Perth made Canberra pay for those missed opportunities with a sucker punch at the death. Glory earned themselves a corner. Crystal Thomas floated it in and Kim Carroll rose highest to power a header in for her first ever W League goal. It earned Perth their first point of the season.

The final game of the round took place at Lions Stadium where 1,682 watched Brisbane Roar host Adelaide United, who are now the only side in the W League still to earn a point.

The Queenslanders made a red hot start and took the lead just after three and a half minutes. Carlson Pickett played in Rylee Baisden. Her cut back was turned in by the in-form Indiah Page-Riley for the opening goal.

Shortly afterwards, the Roar almost doubled their lead as Tameka Yallop’s curler cannoned back off of the crossbar. Brisbane got the second goal they dearly deserved on twelve minutes when Matildas’ Hayley Raso side footed Rylee Baisden’s cross into the net.

Adelaide finally got a toe hold in the game after twenty-five minutes when Mary Fowler sent a low drive into the bottom corner. She almost levelled matters five minutes later when she spooned an effort over.

The second half was more of an even battle, but it was Adelaide who looked to have rescued what would have been an outstanding point when Mallory Weber levelled when she cut into the box and fired past the despairing dive of Roar keeper Mackenzie Arnold.

Try as the South Australians might, they could not hang on, and with six minutes left, Brisbane grabbed the winner. Natalie Tatham played through a delightfully accurate ball which split the Adelaide defence and Hayley Raso grabbed her second of the afternoon.

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	PD
Melbourne City	5	4	1	0	7	3	13	+ 4
Sydney FC	5	4	0	1	10	3	12	+ 7
Western Sydney Wanderers	4	3	1	0	7	3	10	+ 4
Canberra United	5	2	1	2	8	7	7	+ 1
Brisbane Roar	4	2	0	2	8	9	6	– 1
Newcastle Jets	5	1	1	3	5	8	4	– 3
Melbourne Victory	4	1	1	2	4	7	4	– 3
Perth Glory	4	0	1	3	3	8	1	– 5
Adelaide United	4	0	0	4	3	7	0	– 4

Teams in bold qualify for the Finals play-offs.

The W League does not stop for Christmas, and nor does Impetus’ round up of all the action from Down Under! Don’t miss our piece on Christmas Eve bringing you all the news from Round Six with two further rounds to be played before the end of the New Year bank holiday.

W League Round-Up

Impetus editor Ben Gilby rounds up all the action from the fourth round of matches in the Westfield W League.

Western Sydney Wanderers’ sensational start to the season continued as they went top of the W League for the first time as their unbeaten run continued with an excellent 1-1 draw away to last season’s premiers Melbourne Victory.

Victory took the game on the road to Marwell, located some ninety-three miles outside of the Victorian state capital, and the vast majority of the disappointing crowd of 443 were celebrating after just eight minutes when Natasha Dowie played the ball in and American Haley Hanson slid in to steer it home.

The Wanderers, whose chances of going from wooden spoonists to table toppers in consecutive seasons dominated the rest of the contest, forcing home keeper Casey Dumont into a string of fine saves to keep the Victory lead intact. The pressure finally told on 62 minutes when Alexandra Huynh played in Lynn Williams and the Parramatta based side’s star player slotted the ball calmly under Dumont to record a highly creditable point.

Wanderers are only top by goal difference as the only other unbeaten side Melbourne City gained a superb 2-1 win away to reigning champions Sydney FC.

Many have tipped City for a good season, and they showed exactly why by overcoming a seriously tough examination in the Harbour City which more than showed their title credentials in front of a healthy crowd of 2,690.

It took just three minutes for City to go ahead. Milica Mijatovic drove towards the Sydney box and played in Emily van Egmond. The home side’s defence were drawn to a dummy run from Claire Emslie leaving van Egmond in the clear to smash home.

Sydney were stung into action, and Lydia Williams was forced into action to deny Princess Ibini and Remy Siemsen. Five minutes before the break, the home side were level. Matildas star Chloe Logarzo played a delightful ball through to Sofia Huerta, who brought the ball down magnificently, beat Ellie Carpenter before driving home past Williams.

With fifteen minutes left, City sealed the win with a sensational strike. Australian international Ellie Carpenter put in a dangerous cross which was headed clear by Ellie Brush. Unfortunately for Sydney, Brush’s header fell at the feet of Milica Mijatovic who smashed it first time into the top corner to win the battle of the sky blues was won for Melbourne City.

Brisbane Roar earned their first three points of the season with a 2-1 success at Canberra United who remain fourth despite the reverse, their second in a row.

The Roar dominated the game, in front of 1,185 in the nation’s capital, and it was only a matter of time before they took the lead. Hayley Raso played a delightful pass through to Brisbane’s all-time record goal scorer Tameka Yallop. Her effort was adjudged to have gone over the line after rebounding down from the crossbar. In any case, Indiah-Paige Riley followed in to make sure.

Canberra had the odd chance to equalise, notably when Camilla put in a tempting cross which Elise Thorsnes couldn’t connect with. Roar made United rue the miss shortly afterwards when Raso got on to the end of Mackenzie Arnold’s clearance kick, went past Leema Khamis and headed home.

Despite their domination, Brisbane could not add to their tally. It was Canberra who managed to add the only remaining goal of the afternoon when Thorsnes took the ball from Roar’s Clare Polkinghorne and fired past Arnold for 2-1.

The final game of the round was at Dorrien Gardens where two sides without a win so far faced off. Last year’s beaten Grand Finalists, Perth Glory saw their difficult start to the campaign continue as they suffered a third successive defeat as Newcastle Jets took the points in Western Australia in front of 604 spectators.

The early stages saw Glory on the front foot, with Shannon May and Caitlin Doeglas wasting opportunities by firing high, wide and none too handsome.

Newcastle were more accurate and took the lead on twenty-three minutes when Nikki Flannery volleyed home Teigan Collister’s cross. Perth wasted several opportunities to draw level, and it was the Jets who led at the break.

Glory were punished further for their profligacy in front of goal when Tara Andrews combined with Gema Simon before hitting a shot which cannoned off of the bar before rolling in.

Perth finally got in on the goal-scoring act thanks to fierce shot from their newly arrived Spanish international Celia Jimenez on fifty-seven minutes. There was plenty of time for Glory to respond, and Julia Sardo could have levelled, but her header was well saved.

Newcastle had one further golden opportunity to seal their win after being awarded a penalty following Hana Lowry’s handball, but Jenna Kingsley’s effort was saved by Eliza Campbell.

Adelaide United had the bye.

Table Round Four

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

Teams in bold qualify for Finals stage of the season.

England Sparks Second Half Revival To Leave City Feeling Blue

Chelsea 2-1 Manchester City

Impetus editor Ben Gilby was at Kingsmeadow for this top of the table Barclays FA Women’s Super League clash.

**Above:** Ramona Bachmann and Steph Houghton challenge for the ball at Kingsmeadow. **Photo:** Ben Gilby

Chelsea showed real determination to come from behind to see off fellow title challengers Manchester City yesterday afternoon.

Two goals in three second half minutes, with Bethany England prominent in both moves were rewarded by the three points after a City side, who were strangely subdued for much of the first half, had taken an earlier lead.

The first half had few chances as the two sides sparred with each other without wanting to take too many risks; not surprising given how much was riding on the game.

Whilst City had marginally more opportunities, largely with Canadian star Janine Beckie and Norfolk’s Lauren Hemp playing a key creative role, Chelsea defended comfortably to the extent that Ellen White was largely anonymous for much of the game, particularly after the break. For their part, the home side, cheered on by another boisterous home crowd, the tigerish Erin Cuthbert once more proved exceptionally difficult to stop on her forays forward.

**Above:** Lauren Hemp had a good afternoon for Manchester City. **Photo:** Ben Gilby

The first main opportunity in the second half fell to Chelsea’s South Korean international Ji So-yun who hit a powerful shot which came cannoning back off the post with Ellie Roebuck beaten.

**Above:** Ji So-yun smashes a shot which came back off the post. **Photo:** Ben Gilby

The two teams then came out of their shells more, and it was City who hit the mark first. Keira Walsh robbed Romona Bachmann and played a lovely lofted pass which was met on the volley by Caroline Weir for 1-0.

With City, Arsenal and Chelsea starting to move clear of the chasing pack, it has become increasingly evident that the eventual champions will come from the side with the best record in the three team mini league at the top. Emma Hayes’ side knew they had to up the ante. They did so in style.

**Above:** City and England keeper Ellie Roebuck was increasingly busy in the second half. **Photo:** Ben Gilby

Bethany England’s creativity came to the fore and, with Drew Spence coming on from the bench, the presence and pressure grew.

Bachmann fired in a powerful shot which brought an outstanding save from Roebuck. Shortly after, Roebuck was out of luck as she could only push Ji So-Yun’s effort into the path of Bethany England who couldn’t miss.

**Above:** Bethany England looks to beat City’s Janine Beckie. **Photo:** Ben Gilby

After several efforts fired towards goal that City struggled to clear until Steph Houghton booted it none too elegantly up field, Chelsea got the reward their efforts deserved. A teasing cross was punched out by Roebuck, but it fell to England whose effort was slammed into the net by Maren Mjelde to joyous scenes around Kingsmeadow.

Chelsea have now come from behind to beat both Arsenal and Manchester City at home. How they get on against their fellow title contenders on the road will go a long way to deciding whether or not the Super League trophy will return to South-West London in May.

Our full set of over photos from the match is available to view here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=155003289238134&set=pcb.155006779237785&type=3&theater

**Above:** Ramona Bachmann drives forward for Chelsea. **Photo:** Ben Gilby

Teams:

CHELSEA: Berger, Mjelde, Bright, Eriksson, Andersson, Cuthbert, Ingle, Ji, Reiten, Bachmann, England. Subs: Spence, Carter, Blundell, Cooper, Telford (GK), Fleming, Murphy.

Scorers: England 79, Mjelde 81.

MANCHESTER CITY: Roebuck, Beckie, Houghton, Bonner, Stokes, Walsh, Weir, Scott, Hemp, White, Wullaert. Subs: Coombs, Lee, Benameur (GK), Fidalgo, Stanway, Campbell.

Scorer: Weir 58.

Referee: Amy Fearn.

Attendance: 3,498

Whyteleafe Women: Playing The Game The Right Way

Impetus editor Ben Gilby spoke to Whyteleafe Women manager Charlie Bickell about the rise of the side from the border of Croydon and Surrey to the fifth tier London & South-East Regional Premier – all achieved by playing the game the right way.

Bickell began the piece by outlining the rapid rise of Whyteleafe Women since they formed in 2016. “Our journey so far has of course had its ups and downs but we have achieved so much within a relatively short space of time. It feels like we have been around a lot longer than three and a half seasons! Since the formation of Whyteleafe Women we have seen a new U12 girls’ team formed, the first in the history of the club. We have also seen rises in numbers of girls attending our soccer camps and other foundation projects.”

The establishment of a women’s side at Whyteleafe was one centred on a clear aim – one which the club were public about from the start: “When we started the women’s team we wanted to create a level of professionalism that you wouldn’t find at the bottom level of the women’s game”, explains Bickell, “We tried to make a big noise on social media which also helped us gain some really good players. We have risen through the divisions quickly and that’s all down to the work of the players and my coaches. We have been very fortunate to work with some really good players whose dedication and quality have gotten us to where we are today. Some of those girls are still with us now some have moved on to play at a higher level and we are extremely proud of those girls and we continue to follow their development.”

**Above:** Whyteleafe (green shirts) battle against Dartford in the London & SE Regional Premier. **Photo:** Ollie Chamberlain

It was the staff at the East Surrey club that have formed an important part of the club’s growth. Bickell admits: “As a manager I’ve been very fortunate to have really good coaches to work with. Harry Martin was my assistant in the first two seasons and the work he did on and off the pitch was vital to our success. Now I have a new assistant Fred Wright who’s also been great to work with and he’s bought different qualities to the group. We have a tremendous spirit at Whyteleafe and I think that has had a huge impact on what we have done. Every player who’s worn the shirt has been as important as anyone else and it’s been a privilege to work with all of them.”

There may well have been a lot of success coming Whyteleafe’s way so far, but their ethos is a long way from success at all costs. For Bickell and his coaching team, it’s all about playing the beautiful game the right way: “Our aim is to play our football. If we win by playing our football then we are really happy. If we don’t then we try to perfect our style and improve. I don’t believe any other team in our league (London and South-East Regional Women’s Premier – tier five) plays like we do. We have set principals and we don’t deviate from these. We face a lot of teams who are direct and there’s nothing wrong with that but that way of playing isn’t for us. If our football can help us challenge for honours then that is success for us.”

The huge growth in the profile of women’s football since the World Cup has led to growth in the numbers of young girls attracted to learning the game and honing their skills at Whyteleafe as Bickell explains: “There’s definitely been more interest in young girls through tournaments like the World Cup. Through the work the club does in the community that’s really clear as the number of girls participating has increased which is fantastic to see. We do get some supporters at our games obviously it would be great to get more, but I feel that still people have this idea of women’s football that’s not really correct if they just went to see a game I think they would be surprised. As for sponsors we do have a few and we are so grateful for those otherwise Whyteleafe Women wouldn’t be here now. We depend on the kindness of local companies to keep us going, we hope we can add more sponsors because financially that would really allow us to push to the next level.”

With the club now just one division away from the FA Women’s National League, the challenges that Whyteleafe are facing both on and off the pitch are getting on and off the pitch are growing. “We have to compete with teams like QPR and Dulwich Hamlet who have brilliant backing from their clubs and that’s so vital at our level of football because those are the teams who will probably get promoted. Off the pitch every season trying to keep the team going financially is a problem. The players pay to play and we also encourage them to get an individual sponsor. Our outgoing are expensive and with no financial support it makes things very difficult. Our biggest challenge on the pitch is to keep improving our style of football. To keep pushing the players to improve individually. At the present time, there is no relationship to speak of between the men’s first team and ourselves.”

**Above:** Determination to succeed by playing the game the right way is the watchword at Whyteleafe. **Photo:** Ollie Chamberlain

The balancing act that Whyteleafe have is to continue to push to improve their status whilst ensuring there is a sustainable future for women’s football in their particular part of South-East Surrey. “To be sustainable you need a reputation at the level of football you compete at. The work we have done has given us that so players know who we are and that’s why we have managed to sign some really very good players and players continue to be interested in signing for us. I think you also need huge commitment form the players you have and I think that if you set the right environment then you get that in return. Certainly with the situation we are in you have to be financially stable without any support so defiantly off the pitch that’s our biggest challenge in being sustainable”, points out Bickell.

In terms of where the Whyteleafe manager sees the game going over the next five years, he says: “I hope the women’s game continues to grow. To work with these girls has been something I have enjoyed tremendously and I want other coaches to be open to coaching within the women’s game. I’m not sure if the Women’s game will ever be on par with the men’s game but I want to see sold out stadiums in the Women’s Super League and in the Championship. I want to see boys and girls having female players on the back of their shirts. As for us, I think for Whyteleafe our aim is to play in the national league, its only one promotion away but it would mean a lot to us. We also want to continue to improve the players we have and perfect our style of football.”

Finally, the conversation turned to the increase in money and support from the Premier League and Championship clubs going towards their women’s sides. I asked Charlie Bickell if he thought that would make it impossible for clubs like Whyteleafe to progress further up the women’s football pyramid: “I think that there will be interest from the people who organise football at the top to make it elitist, the prime example of that is what happened to Yeovil Town. We can’t allow money to be a road block for coaches and players to achieve. Football is a working class sport and I think when you only make it work for people who have money this is completely wrong. I think all Premier League clubs should have a women’s team and give them the same support as they do the men, but more than that, they should have a responsibility to invest in women’s football in their local area.”

Whyteleafe’s rise, in a town with a population of less than 4,000 is impressive and one which, if Charlie Bickell has anything to do with it, is not over yet. They are a club who want success playing the beautiful game the beautiful way. They are a club well worth keeping an eye on.

**Above:** There’s been plenty for Whyteleafe to celebrate since their formation. **Photo:** Ollie Chamberlain

Ben Gilby is the editor of Impetus and has over fifteen years experience in voluntary media officer roles within the sports of Football and Rugby Union, has appeared on BBC Radio Cornwall and BBC Radio Norfolk sports shows several times and published the book ‘The Game: Tales From A Season Travelling Around The Rugby Union Grounds of South-East England’.

W League Round-Up

Impetus editor Ben Gilby rounds up all the action from the third round of matches from the Westfield W League in Australia.

New South Wales has kept its stranglehold on the W League with Sydney FC and cross city rivals Western Sydney Wanderers still holding one hundred percent win rates at the top of the table.

Sydney FC stay top on goal difference after a comfortable 3-1 win away to Perth Glory in a repeat of last season’s Grand Final. Whilst the Sky Blues have started 2019/20 the way they finished the previous campaign, for the Western Australians it is a season of transition with new, younger players finding their feet in the league. It hasn’t helped that their start to the season has been slightly disjointed as, following their opening day defeat at Canberra United, they had the bye last weekend, and therefore lay bottom with two matches played.

Sydney came out of the blocks like a sprinter and built a 2-0 lead after just six minutes. Remy Siemson cooly chipped the ball over the advancing Perth keeper Eliza Campbell after three minutes. Siemson doubled the score shortly after when she capitalised on some defensive malfunctions. Her shot was partially blocked by Campbell, but the ball rebounded from both posts and rolled in. Despite Perth rallying and creating some opportunities, any hope the home side had of rescuing the game went after 39 minutes when Princess Ibini was fouled in the area and Caitlin Foord stepped up to hit home the penalty.

Caitlin Doeglas got a goal back for Perth after the break, but Sydney still created the better chances with both Foord and fellow Australian international Chloe Logarzo going close. It was a comprehensive victory for the Sky Blues in front of a crowd of 797 at Dorrien Gardens.

Western Sydney Wanderers recorded their third straight win with a sensational 3-1 success at Brisbane Roar.

If anyone thought that Wanderers’ start to the campaign, which has seen them amass more points than in the whole of last season already, was a flash in the pan, then this success in Queensland will surely put them right.

Kristen Hamilton’s superb hat-trick was the difference between the two sides in front of a decent Thursday night crowd of 2,535 at Lions Park. However, it could have been so very different as the Roar started strongly and it took two super saves from Wanderers’ keeper Abby Smith in the opening ten minutes to keep Brisbane out. First, Smith turned away Carson Pickett’s long range strike and later Tameka Yallop’s header was pushed round the post.

Wanderers survived the early scare and began to dominate themselves. American star Lydia Williams, who has been a vital part in everything good the Parramatta based side have done so far, sprinted past the Brisbane defence to play in countrywoman Hamilton for her first after ten minutes. The second goal arrived just before the break, and this time it was three Americans involved in the build up. Sam Staab’s throw was flicked on by Williams and Hamilton couldn’t miss.

Ten minutes into the second half, Brisbane were given a lifeline when Western Sydney’s Erica Halloway made an error in defence which was gobble up by Pickett. She in turn squared the ball to Rylee Baisden who hit home. Any hopes that the Queenslanders had soon vanished as the Wanderers laid siege to the home goal. Williams’ fierce shot cannoned back off of the bar. But it was all over when Williams completed her hat-trick with a sensational goal. Kyra Cooney-Cross backheeled the ball into Williams’ stride. The American turned the defender and fired a scorcher in to complete a superb win.

Melbourne City are third and remain unbeaten, but are two points adrift of the Sydney sides after they narrowly saw off an Adelaide United side who will feel desperately unlucky to still be looking for their first win of the season.

The only goal of the game at John McEwan Reserve came after just eight minutes when Ellie Carpenter crossed for Kyah Simon to slide the ball home. Australian international Aivi Luik could have doubled the home side’s lead, but her long range shot was well saved by Sarah Willacy. City had three further excellent chances before the break to wrap up victory. Scottish international Claire Emslie had a shot saved by Willacy, and Simon hit two shots over the bar.

The second half saw Adelaide create a number of excellent chances, but an inability to convert them, combined with ill-luck – Brooks’ effort ruled to be offside. Melbourne City had further opportunities through Emily van Egmond, Claire Emslie and Ellie Carpenter, but in the end the crowd of 500 had to settle for the one goal.

The final game of the round saw Canberra United move up to fourth with an impressive win at Newcastle Jets in front of an equally impressive crowd of 3,446 at the McDonald Jones Stadium.

The side from the capital city built up a 2-0 lead around the half-hour mark. Ashlie Crofts opened the scoring on 29 minutes, when she followed up Karly Roestbakken’s shot which came crashing off the bar. Simone Charley doubling the advantage just three minutes later when she calmly placed the ball underneath the onrushing Jets keeper Claire Coelho.

Incredibly, there were still two further goals to come before the break – both from the spot by Tara Andrews and both after fouls on Nikki Flannery within five minutes of each other!

The outcome of the game was in doubt to the very end, and with nine minutes left, United grabbed a winner thanks to Elise Thorsnes who finished off a counter-attacking move with a shot into the bottom corner.

Melbourne Victory had the bye, and subsequently drop to fifth place with one win and one loss from their two games so far. Newcastle Jets are now sixth with Brisbane Roar, Adelaide United and Perth Glory still looking for their first points of the season.

Round Four sees a mouth-watering clash between defending champions Sydney FC and many people’s favourites Melbourne City. Elsewhere, Western Sydney Wanderers face a stern test of their credentials with a trip to Melbourne Victory. Brisbane Roar travel to a Canberra United side who have started very well. Either Perth Glory or Newcastle Jets will look to chalk up their first win of the campaign when they face off in Western Australia.

Impressive Tangerines Send Fulham Crashing To Defeat

Fulham 0-5 Ashford Town

Impetus editor Ben Gilby was at Motspur Park to see this Tier Five clash in the London & South-East Regional Premier League Cup.

These two sides came into yesterday’s match separated by just a single point, albeit slightly in arrears from the leading two in the division, Queen’s Park Rangers and Dulwich Hamlet.

The home side came into the match weakened slightly by injuries on the back of a dramatic 4-3 loss to Dulwich Hamlet at Motspur Park the previous weekend in front of a huge crowd for this level of 450. The crowd this time round braved exceptionally low temperatures and rain in the early stages of the game but they were rewarded by some excellent, skilful football.

From the start, it was apparent that Ashford, based near Heathrow Airport rather than Kent, would offer a far more cohesive attacking approach. Whilst Fulham’s passing was generally crisper, and was occasionally dangerous, notably on the overlap down the right wing, the quality of the Cottager’s crossing was not up to standard, and they often appeared to be so much slower in their approach play.

**Above:** Ashford Town fire in an early chance at Fulham yesterday. **Photo:** Ben Gilby

Conversely Ashford were quicker in passing and in terms of speed of thought. After sixteen minutes, they took the lead when Alissa Down’s cross was nodded home by Hannah Pearson. Shortly afterwards, it was 2-0 when Ashley Cheatley received the ball in the box and she dispatched a low shot into the corner.

Fulham simply could not cope with Cheatley who produced a performance of such quality that marks her out as a serious threat at this level. She had a number of chances to add to her tally before the break, with great skill taking her past would be tacklers at will, but only the final shot let her down – although this would improve as the game went on.

**Above:** Lilly Lambird fires in a shot for Fulham. **Photo:** Ben Gilby

Fulham came into the game incrementally as the half wore on, but a lack of pace in their build up and disappointing balls into the area let them down badly.

The score remained 2-0 to the visitors at the break – but if they had taken a greater percentage of the chances that had come their way, Ashford could have been out of sight at half-time.

Into the second half, Fulham started with intent with more pep into their play, but any chance of a meaningful comeback was erased just three minutes into the period. It was Cheatley again involved as she gained possession in the home side’s area and beautifully took the ball round the keeper and rolled it into the empty net.

**Above:** Ashford Town’s hat-trick hero Ashley Cheatley who put in a hugely impressive performance. **Photo:** Ben Gilby

Ashford remained on top and they deservedly added a fourth just before the seventy minute mark when Alissa Down’s cross was met with a stunning power header from Laura Huse.

Ashley Cheatley broke through once more, and with just the goalkeeper to beat, went for a chip which flew over the bar. She didn’t have long to wait to complete her hat-trick though and it was an exquisite goal. Receiving the ball on the left hand side, she tied the Fulham defence in knots, leaving would-be tacklers on the ground before cutting inside and firing home to complete the rout.

Fulham are a far better team than this showing, and they will come back from this. Ashford Town though were hugely impressive and the hosts will be grateful that they didn’t take more of their chances in the first half or else the score-line could have been worse from their perspective.

**Above:** Ashford Town celebrate another goal at Motspur Park. **Photo:** Ben Gilby

Don’t miss our full photo file of fifty pictures from the game, which can be seen here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=151465452925251&set=pcb.151470442924752&type=3&theater

Teams: FULHAM: Marlow, Mendes, Allen, Woodland, Southgate, Meehan, Thomas, Jefferies, Lambird, Taylor, Foster. Subs: Brady, Cole, Goode, Underhill.

ASHFORD TOWN: Perkis, Peters, Potter, Huse, Baker, Johnson, Head, Down, Pearson, Neufville, Cheatley. Subs: Harte, James, Symons.

Goals: Pearson 16. Cheatley 22, 48, 84. Huse 68.

Attendance: 37.

Actonians: A Community Club Growing Year On Year

Impetus editor Ben Gilby spoke to Actonians Ladies FC Chairperson Linda Fox about the FA Women’s National League Division One South-East club, who from humble beginnings have now grown to run three senior sides and a large number of junior girl’s and mini football sides with ambitions to play in tier three of women’s football in England.

Fox began by taking us through the development of the club from its formation in 1998: “We started out as Chiswick United with one team playing in a local park in Chiswick. We added a reserve team a couple of years later and ran with that for about ten or so years before we set up junior girl’s football and also added another senior side in 2012. We moved from Chiswick to Acton in 2003 in search of better facilities and became Acton Sports Club (ASC), we had five successful years as ASC and won 3 promotions before we suddenly found ourselves homeless. We approached Actonians who were based just up the road and have remained there ever since, now running ten teams and growing the club every season. It’s amazing to see where we are now, from park football to the National League and with over 200 players at the club.”

The development of the club and where they now stand, particularly in the Acton community is an inspirational story. I asked Fox about just how the club have done it. “The key to achieving our current league status has been the loyalty of some of our players, several of them joined us in lower divisions and stayed and progressed with us, allowing us to have a solid base to build from which has attracted other talented players to the club. Also of course our coaches and volunteers who have always given their all to the club. As we are completely self-funded we have to work together, this creates a family feeling that people seem to enjoy being a part of which is amazing to see. I do believe that we now have the coaching team and players in place to start thinking about pushing on towards the top of the table and a place in the FA Women’s Southern Premier. With our new coaching team joining us in the summer and many new players it has taken us a little while to settle and the task is now to find some consistency and push on from there. We have also just moved to a new training ground with lovely brand new facilities which will also help us prepare better. But we are heading in the right direction for sure.”

**Above:** The West London side celebrate another goal. **Photo:** Chris Benn.

Actonians had an excellent season in Division One South-East of the FA Women’s National League, finishing fourth. In terms of aims for this season, Fox reveals: “We were hoping for the first team to finish slightly better than last season though a patchy start might make that difficult, though if we hit a run of form it could still be possible. For our other two teams (Reserves and Development) we are looking for a solid season, working on closing the gap between the reserves and first team and bringing players through our development team. We wanted to increase our player numbers in general which we have done with aplomb!”

The huge public profile boost provided to women’s football by the summer’s World Cup has seen large numbers of girls new to the game turning up at Actonians. Fox told me all about how the club have tried to meet demand: “The number of queries resulted in us putting on some beginners sessions so that we can cater for everyone that wants to play. Some of these girls have since progressed into our development team so that have worked out very well! We have 200 registered players at the club from U9’s-Seniors plus twenty or so joining the beginners sessions and also ten to fifteen young girls in our Wildcats mini football centre. So it’s looking very healthy and the interest is definitely there.”

With the club running so many teams and the demand from girls in the area so high, I asked Fox how a self-funded club like Actonians handle the challenge: “It is not easy. We try to improve on something every season, this year new training facilities took priority but it does come with additional costs which we have to fund somehow. We have seen a slight increase in sponsorship on the senior side though this season which is such a big help. Finding the time to work on this and other areas is also a challenge since we are all volunteers with full time jobs and families. On the pitch we are largely happy with how things are going, all three teams are moving in the right direction, player numbers are up this season and we have attracted new players of great quality as well as the fantastic coaching team we have in place giving us a great platform to push on from.”

Fox is more than aware the difficulties that stand alone clubs have in the present environment of women’s football: “As an independent team with no backing at all, financial or promotional, it’s a constant battle just to stay afloat. Bigger name clubs attracts players just by their name whereas we have to work hard and show players why they should come and play for us, nothing comes for free as such. Though it can be done even at semi-pro level which clubs such as Durham have shown. Having said that it can also be a risky thing to rely to on a club that could suddenly withdraw their support, the amount of times we have seen that happen to teams certainly seem to show that being in total control of our club is not all bad!”

**Above:** Actonians’ development squad prepare for a match. **Photo:** Rina Haria.

The development of players through Actonians’ system is absolutely vital in Fox’s view to the club being sustainable in the long term: “Increasing the player numbers from a young age so that the pool of players is there to sustain more teams. The competition will in turn get better and the quality increase. This will in turn fuel interest from potential supporters which will help normalising the female game and in time, I hope, help put bums on seats and bring some more money into the game. We are all impatient and wanting things to happen quickly but even though it might take longer than we want to establish women’s football completely in the mainstream, we are seeing the signs now and every season the interest seem to increase on the whole, as recent attendance records show.”

In terms of how the women’s club relate to the men’s side of Actonians, Fox said: “We don’t tend to interact a huge amount but we are looking to develop the links further and they are very supportive of us, some of our former coaches both coach and play in the men’s section so we have great friends there.”

I asked Linda what her aims were for Actonians in the future: “I think we’ll see more teams and bigger crowds. We aim to keep growing the club and to have the first team promoted to the next level within the next few years and also have a more competitive reserve team backing them up. We have some very talented youngsters in our junior teams and I’m really looking forward to seeing them progress and step up to the senior teams in the years to come. I also want to set up a vets team at the club to encourage players to carry on playing for longer, and I hope that there will be a competitive vets league to play in within the next few years. We can’t be the only team with plenty of players over 35 that don’t feel like stopping but ideally don’t want to play against 18 years olds anymore.”

**Above:** Actonians Ladies – a successful club at all age group levels. **Photo:** @sniperpose

The development of Actonians Ladies over the years is one which has seen gradual improvement lead to real growth. The club’s position in their community of West London and huge interest from youngsters there can only bode well for an even brighter future in Acton.

Last Gasp Shine Stunner Settles Dramatic Cup Final

Impetus editor Ben Gilby reports on a quite magnificent SSE Scottish Women’s Cup Final at Tynecastle.

Glasgow City 4-3 Hibernian

Glasgow City ended a memorable season by clinching the Scottish domestic double with a dramatic victory over Hibernian in a fantastic SSE Women’s Scottish Cup Final at Tynecastle, the home of Heart of Midlothian.

**Above:** The cover from Sunday’s SSE Scottish Women’s Cup Final. **Photo:** Ben Gilby

The opening fifteen minutes was all Hibernian, who were particularly threatening down the left hand side, with Jamie-Lee Napier prominent in everything good that the Edinburgh side were involved in.

The first chance fell the Hi-Bees way after six minutes when Shannon McGregor was threw on goal, but City keeper Lee Alexander raced out of her area to clear the ball. Shortly afterwards, the dangerous Napier was ruled offside after being played through by Amy Muir. Television replays showed that the call was far from accurate.

It took the thirteen time league champions twenty minutes to gain their first meaningful attack of the game. An incredible effort from Kirsty Howat, who let fly from close to the left hand touchline outside the eighteen yard box was narrowly over the bar.

Two minutes later, Sam Kerr’s effort was saved by Jenna Fife in the Hibs goal, but came straight out to Clare Shine. Her powerful effort was narrowly wide. Just two minutes later, the same player was even closer when her fierce drive was centimetres wide.

Hibernian heeded the warning signs and they upped the ante once more. Colette Cavanagh put in a tempting cross and Amy Gallagher obliged by hitting the Hi-bees ahead on 31 minutes.

The lead lasted a mere three minutes. Glasgow City were awarded a free kick. Leanne Ross’ effort should have been dealt with easily by Hibs, but a poor clearance found its way to Eilish McSorley who fired home for 1-1.

Five minutes before the break, City went ahead after Hayley Lauder’s cross was hooked in by Leanne Crichton. For all Hibs early dominance, they went in at the break 2-1 down.

**Above:** Leanne Crichton, scorer of Glasgow City’s second goal.
**Photo courtesy:** Scottish Women’s Football.

Hibernian returned to the field of their cross city rivals full of determination as they, again dominated the early periods. Indeed it took just three minutes of the second half for them to conjure up an equaliser. Shannon McGregor played in a lovely ball and Jamie-Lee Napier skilfully side footed the ball past Alexander, albeit with a slight deflection.

Four minutes later, Hibs could have gone in front as Colette Cavanagh’s dramatic diving header was superbly saved by Lee Alexander. The pressure on City continued to mount and Hibernian’s third goal arrived after 53 minutes when the unfortunate Leanne Ross got her feet tied up and her attempted clearance ended up rolling past her own goalkeeper.

**Above:** Jamie-Lee Napier, scorer of Hibernian’s second goal and a player who had an outstanding final.
**Photo courtesy:** Scottish Women’s Football.

Glasgow City though, are made of stern stuff – you don’t win thirteen consecutive league championships and make the Quarter-Finals of the Champions League without knowing when to up your game.

With twenty-two minutes left, Rachel McLauchlin was fouled just outside the box. Hayley Lauder’s effort was narrowly over the Hibs crossbar. Just a minute later, Glasgow City were level. Lauder’s cross was met by Clare Shine who slid in, but the ball was cleared for a corner. From the resulting set piece, Shine was given the freedom of the penalty area to head home unmarked. 3-3 – game on once more, and the destination of the Scottish Cup was once more in question.

It was now all Glasgow City, but as the game entered stoppage time at the end of 90 minutes, it was looking odds on that the final was going into extra time. However, Clare Shine had other ideas. The 24 year-old City star went on a quite magnificent mazy run, leaving attempted Hibs tackles in her wake to fire home the sort of last gasp winning goal that dreams are made of.

It was a really harsh way for Hibernian to lose after such a magnificent effort from the Edinburgh side – but Glasgow City again showed their class when it really mattered.

Teams:

GLASGOW CITY: Lee Alexander, Rachel McLauchlan, Hayley Lauder, Jo Love, Leanne Crichton, Kirsty Howat, Clare Shine, Nicola Docherty, Leanne Ross, Sam Kerr, Eilish McSorley. Subs: Erin Clachers (GK), Jenna Clark, Hayley Sinclair, Nicola Reid, Carly Grasoli, Jordan McLintock, Megan Foley.

Scorers: McSorley 32, Crichton 40, Shine 70, 90.

HIBERNIAN: Jenna Fife, Joelle Murray, Amy Muir, Siobhan Hunter, Jamie-Lee Napier, Caitlin Michie, Shannon McGregor, Colette Cavanagh, Amy Gallacher, Chelsea Cornet, Rachel Boyle. Subs: Jennifer Currie, Lia Tweedie, Laura Davidson, Shannon Leishman, Ellis Notley, Siobhan Higgins, Eilish Adams.

Scorers: Gallagher 32, Napier 49, Ross OG 53.

Attendance: 3,123.

W League Round-Up

Defending champions Sydney FC moved top of the W League ladder after two rounds after a 1-0 win at an Adelaide United side who are yet to win this season.

Despite this, it was the South Australians who had the best of the early chances after Isabel Hodgson’s effort came back off the cross bar and also forced the Sky Blues keeper Aubrey Bledsoe into several smart saves. Adelaide were left to rue these missed chances when Australian international Caitlin Foord slotted home after fellow Matilda Chloe Logarzo played her in. Adelaide had their chances to level – notably through sixteen year-old striker Mary Fowler – but Sydney held on to gain the win in front of 786 at the Marden Sports Complex.

Cross city rivals Western Sydney Wanderers are in second place on goal difference, being the only other team to win both matches so far. The Black and Reds defeated Newcastle Jets 1-0 in Parramatta.

The match was under threat from a severe thunder storm which saw the players taken off the pitch for half an hour, but when it did, it was the hosts who offered the most threat. Wanderers hit the post and bar more times than was believable. In addition, several great saves from Claire Coelho and poor finishing served to keep the Jets in the game for longer than they really should have been. In the end, the only goal came from the spot after United States international Lynn Williams’ shot was handled by Newcastle’s Clare Wheeler. Wanderers’ second straight win means that after just two rounds this season, they have won more games than in the whole of the last campaign when they finished rock bottom. The game also saw the biggest attendance of the round with 2,992 at Parramatta’s Bankwest Stadium.

Melbourne City are third after they followed up a draw last week with a last gasp win over an improving Canberra United outfit.

The Lime Green’s followed up their win last week over Perth Glory by taking the lead against the side that many believe are potential champions this season. Katy Stengel’s strike just before the hour was just reward for a gritty and determined performance by Canberra. However, try as they might, they just could not hold on against a City side rammed full of international talent. Their lead lasted just seven minutes before Serbia’s Milica Mijatovic fired home the equaliser. Canberra were then cruelly denied even point at the very death. The referee controversially ruled that Yukari Kinga was brought down in the box by United’s Jessie Rasschaertin despite the Canberra player clearly winning the ball. Up stepped Matildas’ international Emily van Egmond to fire home the winner four minutes into stoppage time. The vast majority of the 1,293 at McKellar Park went home frustrated at their side’s cruel defeat.

Brisbane Roar played their first game of the campaign after a bye in round one, when they hosted Melbourne Victory at Dolphin Oval.

The Victorians had a fast start when an own goal from Kaitlyn Torpey put them ahead after ten minutes. Natasha Dowie doubled the advantage just four minutes later from the spot. Brisbane rallied and created countless opportunities. Therefore it was no surprise when Tameka Yallop got a goal back after 24 minutes. Things could have got even better for the Roar when they were awarded a penalty, but Yallop was denied by Casey Dumont, who made eight stunning saves throughout the game. With fourteen minutes left, Dowie’s second strike of the evening looked to have sealed the win. The drama was not over though as Indiah-Paige Riley’s effort reduced the deficit to a single goal once more with only ten minutes left. Casey Dumont sealed Victory’s win thanks to several further great saves. It was a fine spectacle for the crowd of 2,139.

Perth Glory received the bye in Round Two, but they will return to action this coming weekend when they host Sydney FC in a repeat of last season’s Grand Final.

Rovers Rollercoaster Ride Takes Upward Curve – Part II

In Part Two of his exclusive interview with Gemma Donnelly, Head of Blackburn Rovers Women and Girls Football, Impetus editor Ben Gilby examines the status of the FA Women’s Championship, the growth of the game and where what her aims are for the future at the Ewood Park outfit.

(For the first part of the interview, click on this link: https://impetus885775742.wordpress.com/2019/11/07/rovers-rollercoaster-ride-takes-upward-curve/ )

Looking at the FA Women’s Championship, Donnelly observed: “With the money that has been injected, there is now a wide hybrid range of clubs in the division. You’ve got some clubs offering full-time contracts with part-time players as well, so their players train all week at their parent club and use their facilities. The part-time players come in during the evening for training two or three times a week. To the other extreme, there are clubs in the division with no players on contracts and just some expenses paid, some not paid at all, so there’s a huge difference between the top end and the bottom end. Money can attract the right type of player in terms of playing quality, but it can also attract the wrong type of person too – the type of person who is only in it for the money. That’s football, isn’t it!”

The Rovers manager also pointed out the emergence of a new phenomenon in the women’s game: “There’s been an influx of interest from agents to promote their players to us this season, which has been a new experience! Millwall of last season are now London City Lionesses and have had a huge injection of cash, the players are all full-time and salaried, so it’s completely different from where we’re currently at, training eight hours a week over three evenings and we’re expected to compete in the same league, so it’s going to be tough. There’s pros and cons of that. We’re learning because of that and we’re experiencing adversity but we’ll learn from these experiences and the positives from that are it will help us moving forwards. The negatives are that it’s hard work. None of us hide from that, it’s the mental toughness that probably was a little bit unexpected, particularly after having so much success in recent times.”

Blackburn Rovers’ Blackburn Rovers Ladies v Coventry United Ladies Sunday 27/10/19 Ewood Park Photographer/ Copyright Rachel Holborn

In terms of whether or not there has been a noticeable increase in interest from potential players, sponsors and supporters since the World Cup, Donnelly is under no doubt at all: “There’s been a huge change and shift in the exposure for the women’s game and that has kicked on even more since the Women’s World Cup in the summer. In terms of Blackburn, we have over a hundred and twenty girls playing in seven teams, nearly forty staff, two of which are full time, the rest are part time. We’re involved with the seven teams all week, playing on a Saturday or Sunday up and down the country, so there’s huge investment in resources, both time and money ensuring the girls have the best opportunities. The game itself has kicked on. I do believe that there’s been a heightened interest in terms of sponsorship; businesses and companies want to get involved with the women’s game now and that’s fantastic to see because that funding allows players to have better resources.”

In all of this though, there is the conundrum of clubs throwing large sums of money at short term success or building slowly on a more sustainable model. At Blackburn Rovers, the belief it that a consistent, long term approach is vital. “It stems down to support from the football club – not just token gesture support, it’s got to be support across the board. If its facilities, it’s got to be top class facilities, if it’s expertise and staffing, having them on hand all the time; it’s got to be consistent – not just dropping in and out”, Donnelly says. “It needs to be a combined effort from everyone involved. Pushing all the time. The right people have to be in place – both staff and players. The sustainability of that for both semi-pro or pro clubs comes down to money. You have people moving around just for the money. At the moment at Blackburn I believe we have the right players in place because they are here for the club and for their own aspirations and as a team. When we’re in a better position to be able to offer more rewarding financial contracts you can attract potentially better players, but I don’t know if they will be able to offer us the same commitment and determination that the players we currently have are showing. Sustainability is a joint effort for sure for everyone involved, but ultimately having the right people involved.”

Donnelly believes that the future is exciting, as long as the game can maintain and keep up with increased interest: “The game is taking huge leaps. Currently, I think we’re all trying to keep up with the snowball effect of the exposure of women’s football. It’s now about ensuring we don’t allow it to slip away from us and keeping in touch with how much exposure and coverage and interest there is. We’re in quite a fortunate position at Rovers because we have a Regional Talent Club that is Tier One. Even that is having to keep monitoring whether it is keeping up with the surge in women’s football. I’m glad we’ve finally been promoted because, although there is a huge gulf between Tier Three and the Championship, there’s an even bigger gulf between the Championship and Super League. But at least we’re somewhere around there. I feel that if we hadn’t been promoted again, we would have lost staff and players. We would have been miles away. At least we’re now in touching distance. From a football club perspective, like the men, we’d say we’d like more investment in order to kick us on. The clear message from the club is that we’re trying to be sustainable, so we’ll look to start slowly and build over time to move forward. That’s the aim, that’s the target, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

**Above:** Blackburn Rovers Ladies 2019/20. **Photo Courtesy:** Blackburn Rovers Ladies FC.

In order for the women’s game to stand the best chance of continuing an upward trajectory, Donnelly believes that, overall the model of parent professional men’s clubs is the way forward: “Whilst there’s advantages and disadvantages for being aligned or non-aligned as a women’s club, having been embedded in the game for ten years or more, the pros and cons are that you are able to have on hand the expertise from across departments, facilities, exposure – everything that the parent professional club can offer, you are able to experience. A real togetherness is definitely a positive. I’d suggest that the downside of it is that we’re probably not a priority because, in a business world, women’s football is not a money making area, so you are around the bottom of priority because they need to keep the wider business afloat.”

“When you are working independently, like I know many clubs are, the positives of that are that you are your own priority, you can market your own product. You are your own USP, but I guess the negatives of that are that you don’t have the security of a professional club and the expertise and professionalism operating alongside you; the ability of being able to seek help and advice and support you on your journey, so I think if I was given a choice, I would probably stay with a parent club because there are so many benefits to it.”

“We’ve seen lots of success with parent clubs and their female clubs at the highest end – Chelsea and Arsenal. There isn’t anyone in Super League who isn’t attached to a parent club – although I would also say that Chelsea and Arsenal are money rich clubs who are able to subsidise heavily their female teams. In the Championship, there’s two non-aligned clubs – London City Lionesses and Durham. When it becomes a semi-pro/pro league, I think it proves that you need your parent club there to help support them.”

If Gemma Donnolly has anything to do with it, Blackburn Rovers will continue to battle with passion and determination to, first ensure they keep their Championship place, and then push on. It’s a story worth following.