Perth Glory began a steady stream of games for the remainder of the fixture, while Victory get two from two against Newcastle and Sydney were tested by Adelaide. 

Western Sydney Wanderers 1 – 0 Perth Glory

Written by Lani Johnson

The Western Sydney Wanderers secured their second win of the season last Thursday night after beating Perth Glory 1-0 at Marconi Stadium.

Perth got off to a good start with a number of initial chances and most of the early possession. Within the first 10 minutes Gemma Craine’s injury replacement Taneesha Baker shot from range, catching the Wanderers’ keeper Sarah Willacy off balance but sending the ball just wide of the goal.

The Wanderers first real chance of the game came in the 44th minute. A slip pass from Caitlin Cooper found the feet of Julie-Ann Russell in the middle of the box. The striker touched the ball into the bottom left corner, putting the Wanderers in front just before half time.

For the remainder of the match, the momentum was in favour of the Wanderers. The team in red and black had the majority of chances and came closing to scoring on multiple occasions, causing some scrambling defence from Perth to deny their opponents another goal.  

The best chance of the second half for Wanderers came from Libby Copus-Brown, stealing the ball in the middle of the park and shooting from distance. Perth’s keeper Alfeld expertly touched the ball onto the woodwork, however it wasn’t enough to negate the Wanderers from walking away with all three points.

Newcastle Jets 0 – 2 Melbourne Victory

Written by Angela Christian-Wilkes

With these two teams meeting for the second time in three weeks, the home side would have been looking to avenge their loss at Morwell. However Victory made it three on the go thanks to two early goals.

Sunny Franco had a formidable opportunity within four minutes, Rhianna Pollicina chipping the ball over the Victory defence. With only Gaby Garton between her and the goal, Franco skied the shot over the crossbar. 

Kayla Morrison opened the account for the game and her own for the season in the 8th minute. A beautiful free kick taken by Kyra Cooney-Cross floated over from the left with the defender heading it into the top left corner.

Other close moments shortly thereafter included Clare Coelho – who returned between the posts this round – pulling off a massive save to obstruct a shot from Melina Ayres and Kyra Cooney-Cross hitting the woodwork.

It was Catherine Zimmerman who doubled the scoreline. Ayres’ through ball dissected three Jets’ defenders with Zimmerman staying physical to send the ball into the bottom right.

Jets’ leading scorer Tara Andrews had an opportunity to narrow the difference a few minutes out from halftime. Much in the same way as Franco’s chance earlier on, she recieved the long ball over from the left and was met one on one with Garton. While on target, her shot was deflected by the keeper. 

Victory were the more dominant side in the second half. While scrappy at times, will have been happy to keep a clean sheet, given Newcastle scored two against them in the second half last time they met a fortnight before.

Newcastle, on the other hand, got even fewer bites upfront. Their midfield stocks are now depleted for their end of season run after Rhianna Pollicina got herself two yellow cards in the space of 15 minutes. 

Brisbane Roar 4 – 0 Perth Glory

Written by Nick Amies

A rampant Roar made it five wins on the trot with an emphatic 4-0 win over Perth Glory at Lions Stadium on Sunday night.

Glory ‘keeper Lily Allfeld has made an impressive start to her W-League career, but two shots of the highest quality would beat the New Zealand international and see the Roar enter half-time with the lead.

Olivia Chance, another Kiwi playing her first season in the Dub, received a layoff from her teammate Isobel Dalton just outside and unleashed a piledriver from her left foot and into the top corner.


Just minutes later Gielnik started forward on a counter-attack and upon seeing Alfeld well off her goal line, lobbed the goalkeeper from just inside the opposition half.

Chance set up Gielnik for their side’s third goal in the 50th minute, the Matildas striker driving a shot hard and low across goal to score from a narrow angle on the left.

The win was completed with a poacher’s goal from Larissa Crummer, who ghosted in at the back post to steer home Kaitlyn Torpey’s cross.

It was a heart-warming return to football for Crummer, who was making her first appearance in 758 days after five surgeries and countless hours of recovery from a leg break.

Sydney FC 2 – 1 Adelaide United

Written by Dale Roots

Sydney bounced back from its horrific loss to Brisbane last week in the best way possible, defeating Adelaide 2-1 at Cromer Park on Sunday afternoon.

Goals to Remy Siemsen and Cortnee Vine either side of half-time sealed the points for the hosts, with Matilda McNamara’s first W-League goal near the hour mark not enough to wrest supremacy inside 90 minutes.

Sydney had the game’s first real chance after 20 minutes, with midfielders Taylor Ray and Clare Wheeler finding Siemsen with some neat passing, but the local junior could only force a brilliant sprawling save from Reds goalkeeper Annalee Grove before the defence could clear the danger.

Five minutes before half-time Siemsen would make amends though, beating marker Isobel Hodgson to Teresa Polias’ in-swinging corner and heading in from close range for Sydney’s opener.

Reds boss Adrian Stenta would have felt uncomfortable going into half-time a goal behind, and his side’s situation only worsened after the break, as Vine doubled Sydney’s lead, again taking advantage of a pinpoint Polias delivery to score her fourth goal of the campaign.

Adelaide would pull a goal back through the tenacious McNamara, who made the most of some amateurish defending at Emily Condon’s floated set-piece to head home in front of Sydney stopper Jada Whyman.

And with time ticking down, the Reds could have – and perhaps should have – salvaged a point through striker María José Rojas, who found herself in possession in the Sydney box after a careless touch from Charlotte McLean, only to spurn a one-on-one chance and shoot straight into the waiting arms of a grateful Whyman.

 

Round 10 details

All times are AEDT. 

  • Western Sydney Wanderers vs Melbourne City at Wanderers Centre of Football – Thursday, February 25, 7:05pm. 
  • Perth Glory vs Sydney FC at Dorrien Gardens – Thursday, February 25, 9.35pm. 
  • Newcastle Jets vs Adelaide United at No. 2 Sportsground – Friday, February 26, 6.05pm. 
  • Melbourne Victory vs Canberra United at Epping Stadium – Sunday, February 28, 4.05pm. 

Download our shareable W-League calendar. 

DALE ROOTS
DALE ROOTS
Dale is a Canberra-born, Sydney-based writer for Beyond90, covering both W-League and NPL competitions, as well as the Australian national teams.
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