NPL Capital Football Women’s Grand Final day at Deakin Stadium was an occasion dipped in blue. It was a significant day of celebration for both Belconnen United and Canberra Olympic – not only were they meeting for the first time in an NPLW 1st Grade Grand Final, but the two clubs also locked horns in the Reserve Grade Grand Final.
Grand Final: Belconnen United vs Canberra Olympic
It’s worth mentioning the journey to this game for both teams. Canberra Olympic’s last finals appearance was in 2018 when Grace Maher played for the club. The last couple of seasons, first under Andrew Woodman and then Nicole Begg, saw an emphasis on building club culture. Over the summer, Olympic made a major play for top-flight playing talent to build up the squad – including several Blue Devils players – with Begg quickly creating cohesion in the group. Olympic won the Federation Cup Final against Belconnen United and was unbeaten against them coming into the Grand Final.
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The loss of players over the summer may have made for uncertainty over how the Blue Devils were going to fare in 2022, but the uncertainty memo never reached new coach Scott Conlon and the playing group. Off the tail-end of a decade-long period of success, Conlon’s group featured a mix of youth and experience which became stronger as the season wore on.
It was fitting that the Grand Final featured quite possibly the finest two players of the season: Blue Devils captain Talia Backhouse and Olympic’s Ashleigh Sykes. Both were expected to exert a significant influence on the game.
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The final started evenly with both teams feeling each other out. A three-minute period after successive Olympic corners, however, turned the game upside-down. Vanessa Ryan’s corner kick into a crowded Blue Devils six-yard box proved difficult to handle, skimming off Backhouse’s head and into the net for the first goal.
The second followed hot on its heels as Olivia Gurney’s through ball found Ashleigh Sykes bursting down the left flank and expertly angling her side-footed finish past the advancing Jayla Murphy in the Blue Devils’ goal.
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Early goals had been a trademark of recent Blue Devils performances and it seemed to take a few minutes for the team to come to terms with the new game situation. Begg had set up Olympic well to counter the Belconnen attacking threats, with the Ryan match-up on Kiera Bobbin especially vital in limiting the opportunities of the Blue Devils flyer.
Two Olivia Bomford corners around the half-hour mark pointed to better things for the Blue Devils but as the teams headed into the sheds with Olympic 2-0 up, Belconnen had not as yet found a higher level of performance.
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Canberra Olympic deflated Belconnen’s comeback intentions just two minutes into the second period with Olivia Gurney’s magnificent left-foot strike from the edge of Murphy’s area. At 3-0 down, coach Conlon sought to change the game, replacing defensive midfielder Lauren Preston with Pearl Tein in a clear statement of attacking intent. Indeed, Reilly Yuen’s low hard strike which followed tested Janet King in goal, with Yuen perhaps looking the most likely of the front three to this point.
It may well have been a demoralising sight for the Blue Devils near the hour mark with Olympic attacking weapons Olivia Fogarty and Michaela Thornton coming on for Olivia Gurney and Meg Roden. Thornton had flown in overnight after captaining a triumphant Australian side (also featuring Nicole Jalocha) in an international futsal tournament. For her part, Fogarty would be a starter for most teams in this competition.
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With 13 minutes remaining Bobbin finally eluded Ryan’s attentions and managed a low shot on goal which was palmed away by King for a corner.
Sykes provided a second personal moment of real class just four minutes later, turning her defender on a dime and as the ball popped up enticingly, volleying the ball home from inside the penalty area. At 4-0, the game had all but slipped away from the Blue Devils.
Yet the adage that football teams are most vulnerable just after scoring was certainly the case here as young Blue Devils substitute Tatum Mazis found sufficient room a minute later, guiding a Grand Final goal into the bottom left corner of King’s net.
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4-1 was how the score would remain, with the Blue Devils unable to find that extra gear so evident late in last week’s semi-final. It was an emotional win for Olympic, with Sykes remarking to the Canberra Times that “… this is pretty special because it’s something we’ve built over a few years. We have committee members crying, which is really sweet. This means a lot to the club.” Some words from Blue Devils coach Scott Conlon can also be found in this article.
Canberra Olympic’s belief in Nicole Begg, the support team around her and the culture that has been built there over the last few seasons has been realised by the team’s breakthrough achievements in 2022, taking out the Federation Cup and their first NPLW Grand Final trophy.
Conlon’s achievements this season as Blue Devils coach are also to be applauded. After a short settling-in period, the playing group responded to his thoughtfully focused ways, leading to competing for two trophies and a barnstorming seven-game unbeaten run into the Grand Final.
If it wasn’t plain before, it is now after a gripping 2022 campaign: there is an evident Big Three in the top level of the local women’s competition. Together with the narrowing gap between the top and bottom sides, Canberra’s premiere level of local women’s football is all the better for it.
Click on an image to expand the gallery: (images courtesy Beyond 90 photographer Kai Moebus)
Olympic coach Nicole Begg echoed her sister when speaking after the game.
“It’s always nice to get a goal or two early in the game and settle the nerves a bit, every coach dreams of something like that.
“This has been a few years in the making now with a lot of work happening in our junior levels and all the way to the top. We’ve benefited from a few girls looking for a change this year, and we’ve been able to humbly make sure they can build into what we want to do at Olympic.
“[With all the new squad additions] It’s always a massive challenge, we’ve kind of put a target on our backs with the number of girls that came across. It’s always a bit like touch-and-go as to whether we can pull this off and make sure everyone blends in with what we’re trying to do, and can you get those girls working well together on the park. The humility of the girls coming across … they knew they had to do a job for us, whether it was the same as what they did at another club or what we’re asking of them here, and that can’t be understated.
“It’s obvious from the results we’ve been able to build something that people want to be a part of, and that’s the way to go for us.
On captain Victoria Jamieson’s role with the group this year (one of just three starters from last season), “Vic’s been outstanding and she’s been a real leader ever since I came to the club and she’s been here a lot longer than I have. The best thing about Vic is that she didn’t let her game settle knowing that she was the captain; she worked on her game and ensured that she not only kept her starting spot but dominated in some of the games that we needed her to. In today’s performance, you can see that’s her stepping up in a big game, playing her part and doing a job.”
Congratulations go to young Blue Devils centre-back Sophia Doumos, winner of the Julie Murray Medal for best on ground, with Sykes surely not far behind in that reckoning.
For further reading, see Capital Football’s account of the game.
Kudos to the photographers for their work in capturing the action. Keep an eye out in the coming weeks for a Beyond 90 season review and team of the season!
Final score:
Belconnen United 1 (Tatum Mazis 81′)
Canberra Olympic 4 (Ash Sykes 22′ 80′, Talia Backhouse (og) 20′, Olivia Gurney 47′)
Teams:
Belconnen United – Coach: Scott Conlon
Jayla Murphy, Leah Carnegie, Sophia Doumos, Karen Clarke, Stefi Lejins, Lauren Preston, Talia Backhouse (c), Sofia Palywoda, Keira Bobbin, Olivia Bomford, Reilly Yuen
Subs: Marija Rathouski, Tatum Mazis (63′ => Carnegie), Katie Woodman (86′ => Palywoda), Tia Burridge (86′ => Bomford), Pearl Tein (52′ => Preston)
Canberra Olympic – Coach: Nicole Begg
Janet King, Vanessa Ryan, Elke Aitolu, Ally Cook, Victoria Jamieson (c), Sarah Johnston, Meg Roden, Nicole Jalocha, Jaz Zabel, Olivia Gurney, Ashleigh Sykes
Subs: Katrina Peric (71′ => Zabel), Michaela Thornton (57′ => Roden), Brittany Fiorese (92′ => Jalocha), Olivia Fogarty (57′ => Gurney), Ellie Summers
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