There was very little to separate the teams in three out of four Round 10 games from the NPL Capital Football women’s competition … and frankly, we love it. It was especially pleasing to see Wagga City Wanderers earn their first point of the season after holding third-placed West Canberra Wanderers to a scoreless draw on the Melrose Synthetic pitch.
Beyond 90 was lucky enough to be at McKellar Park in fine weather for the Federation Cup Final re-match between Belconnen United and Canberra Olympic.
Other Round 10 games included the following:
West Canberra vs Wagga City
Canberra Croatia vs Tuggeranong United
Gungahlin United vs Canberra United Academy
Match of the Round: Belconnen United vs Canberra Olympic
In the Federation Cup final, Olympic prevailed courtesy of a strong opening half, with the Blue Devils coming at them after the interval. This time the game was being played on Blue Devils home territory, and Belconnen coach Scott Conlon was of a mind to go at their opponent just as they did in the second half of the Cup Final.
Belconnen welcomed the attacking firepower of Olivia Bomford and Reilly Yuen to the starting side, while Keira Bobbin was on the bench. Olympic started with a familiar lineup but had many strong bench options of their own, including the returning Ash Sykes, Olivia Gurney and Olivia Fogarty.
The more attacking outlook of the home side was evidenced by captain Talia Backhouse playing higher up in the middle of the park. The re-introduction of Marija Rathouski to the Belconnen defence meant in-form Lauren Preston was able to play as a six (defensive midfield), while Sophia Doumos was able to slide back into the centre of defence alongside Karen Clarke.
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After just ten minutes Reilly Yuen dribbled into the Olympic box and was nudged off the ball; an older head may not have been so keen to stay on her feet. Not long after, Nicole Jalocha laid the ball off to Michaela Thornton on the edge of the Belconnen area, but the shot sailed comfortably over Jayla Murphy’s crossbar.
A good attacking period followed for Olympic, with Thornton using her speed down the left side to good effect and centring the ball into dangerous areas on more than one occasion.
Both Belconnen fullbacks had fine games in different ways. Rathouski is a defensive powerhouse and her battle with first Tianah Miro and then Sykes was fascinating to watch. Her club was not to name her their player of the match but she cannot have been far from it. Stefi Lejins has always had an enormous engine – she looks to make runs and participate in attacking plays, knowing she will be able to get back and defend. Lejins is a mirror of opposing fullback Renee Junna, who plays a similar style of game.
The home team closed the opening half as the better of the two sides. Eight minutes before the break, Yuen fired the ball towards the top left corner of the goal from distance, but Janet King tipped it over for a corner. King then spectacuarly punched that corner kick away from goal and Junna was fouled tidying up on the cleared ball. Finally, Sofia Palywoda’s shot from distance on half time beat King but not the Olympic crossbar.
The teams entered the sheds at the break with no goals on either side to show for their efforts. Liv Fogarty was an Olympic half-time substitute for Meg Roden, who appeared to have taken a knock in the first half.
Blue Devils winger Tatum Mazis started the second stanza strongly, with two efforts on King’s goal within three minutes. In response, Nicole Begg freshened up the Olympic attack, bringing Sykes on for Jalocha and Olivia Gurney on for Junna.
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Fogarty had a couple of good attacking moments for Olympic after the hour mark, first outpacing Sophia Doumos to reach an over-the-top ball and firing it over the bar, then five minutes later delicately chipping over King, only to be beaten to the ball on the Blue Devils’ goal line by Rathouski.
It was Fogarty who broke the deadlock for Olympic in the 78th minute, off the back of attacking Thornton pressure which won her team a corner. The corner fell to Thornton at the back post, who laid it off to Fogarty. It’s unlikely that Fogarty could have hit her piledriver strike any sweeter for the lead.
Belconnen coach Scott Conlon can take some credit for his team’s reply seven minutes later, after withstanding several Sykes-initiated attacks. The last of these had seen Sykes shoot over Murphy’s bar after Vanessa Ryan dispossessed Backhouse in the Belconnen penalty area.
As Backhouse set the ball up for a free kick 30 yards from the Olympic goal, Conlon called Clarke across to take the kick, allowing Backhouse to take her heading threat into the penalty area. Clarke’s delivery created uncertainty in the Olympic six-yard box, taking a deflection off a defender and into the Olympic goal with King unable to intercede.
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With their tails up, Belconnen pressed for a late winner. Efforts by Backhouse and Mazis were fruitless but their best chance came two minutes into added time after Bobbin had raced half the length of the pitch with the ball. Victoria Jamieson halted Bobbin’s progress illegally and was shown a yellow card, allowing Backhouse to take a free kick on the edge of the area.
Backhouse’s two-footedness on these occasions never fails to impress, and once again she sought to foil the wall in front of her by striking the ball with her left foot. The ball curled onto King’s crossbar and the one-all draw stood, after a fine performance by both teams.
Clarke was awarded Belconnen’s player of the match, while midfield lynchpin Sarah Johnston took out the same award for the Olympic team.
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On this showing, it won’t be long before the Blue Devils regain a place in the top three and look ahead to the top two of Canberra Croatia and Canberra Olympic, such has been their improvement in recent weeks. Conlon seems to have found a working combination with his squad so it will be fascinating to see how they fare in the second half of the season.
Coach Begg arguably already has a working combination but there is always room for improvement. There wasn’t much between the teams and in hindsight perhaps Olympic’s wide attacking prowess wasn’t quite as deadly as we have seen previously. However, Belconnen’s defensive steel certainly played a role in this contest.
Final score:
Belconnen United 1 (Clarke 85′)
Canberra Olympic 1 (Fogarty 78′)
Teams:
Belconnen United – Coach: Scott Conlon
Jayla Murphy, Marija Rathouski, Sophia Doumos, Karen Clarke, Stefi Lejins, Lauren Preston, Talia Backhouse (c), Sofia Palywoda, Reilly Yuen, Olivia Bomford, Tatum Mazis
Subs: Keira Bobbin (68′ => Bomford), Katie Woodman, Leah Carnegie, Pearl Tein (81′ => Palywoda), Tia Burridge
Yellow card: Rathouski (81′)
Canberra Olympic – Coach: Nicole Begg
Janet King, Renee Junna, Ali Cook, Elke Aitolu, Victoria Jamieson (c), Nicole Jalocha, Sarah Johnston, Meg Roden, Michaela Thornton, Tianah Miro, Vanessa Ryan
Subs: Ashleigh Sykes (55′ => Jalocha), Olivia Gurney (55′ => Junna), Katrina Peric (70′ => Gurney), Olivia Fogarty (45′ => Roden), Emma Croker
Yellow card: Jamieson (91′)
Around The Grounds:
West Canberra Wanderers 0-0 Wagga City Wanderers
Canberra Croatia 8-0 Tuggeranong United
Gungahlin United 2-2 Canberra United Academy
Ladder:
Next week:
Round 11
- Canberra Olympic vs Canberra Croatia, O’Connor Enclosed, Sunday June 26th, 2:30pm
- Wagga City vs Gungahlin United, Gissing Oval, Sunday June 26th, 2:30pm
- Tuggeranong United vs West Canberra, Kambah 2, Sunday June 26th, 2:30pm
- Canberra United Academy vs Belconnen United, Hawker Enclosed, Sunday June 26th, 5:10pm
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