The penultimate round of the NPL Capital Football season saw the competition Premiers decided, but the full makeup of the top four (and finals) will not be decided until the final round. The matchup between Canberra Olympic and Gungahlin United was important for two reasons: an Olympic win would take them temporarily to the top of the ladder, keeping the pressure on Canberra Croatia for the Premiership, while a Gungahlin loss would assure West Canberra of fourth place and see the Gunners out of the finals race.
Other games included:
Wagga City Wanderers vs Belconnen United
Canberra United Academy vs Tuggeranong United (not recorded for NPL.TV)
West Canberra Wanderers vs Canberra Croatia
Jeremy Magan’s round wrap for Capital Football can be found here.
Match of the Round: Gungahlin United vs Canberra Olympic
Gungahlin United kicked off this must-win fixture without the services of Stella and Natalie De Marco in midfield, which allowed Piper Lockley a midfield start in a role hearkening back to her early Wagga City days. Rachael Corbett moved from defence to be alongside Lockley, with Adele Choy coming into right back.
The De Marco sisters were en route to representative Futsal duties, with Olympic’s Nicole Jalocha and Michaela Thornton to join them straight after this game.
Olympic coach Nicole Begg opted for a 3-2-2-3 formation, which meant Vanessa Ryan and her turn of pace were available off the bench. Three at the back and four in midfield apiece meant that the midfield battleground would likely have a major bearing on this match, as long as the Gunners’ back three could contain the speed on offer in the Olympic attack.
Lockley’s tidy distribution skills were evident early, with a ball wide to Erika Pennyfield in the 12th minute giving Pennyfield enough room to rattle the crossbar with her shot from the right attacking edge. Olympic’s response was swift, as Michaela Thornton almost lost her footing driving past a defender on the edge of the Gungahlin box, yet still managed on the stretch to score in the bottom left corner of Kailey Tonini’s goal.
Tonini was to have one of her finest performances this season, denying Olivia Fogarty near the half-hour mark after Fogarty shrugged off a tackle but shot directly at the keeper in a one-on-one situation.
A minute later, Cassia McGlashan equalised for the Gunners. Erika Pennyfield’s accurate corner found Michelle Heyman’s head, with the ball bouncing off the deck and deflecting into Janet King’s net via McGlashan’s purposeful header. The moment was beautifully captured by Anthony Caffery below:
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Thornton received a yellow card on the half-hour after raising her studs unintentionally close to McGlashan’s face in the Gunners’ penalty box.
Gunners right-back Choy will have faced no greater test in her football career than Ash Sykes taking her on during the last fifteen minutes of the first half. Blazing by Choy on her way to the byline twice in this period, Sykes first ran a ball across the goal-line right in front of goal on 34 minutes – the ball somehow eluded Jalocha’s finish thanks to the lightest of touches by a Gunners defender. The second occasion seven minutes later resulted in a chest-high Sykes shot directly at Tonini. On both occasions, Choy exerted some pressure on Sykes without being able to fully deter her.
As the halftime whistle blew, both teams had seen plenty of ball, with the visitors edging the home side as far as the level of threat in the opponent’s penalty area was concerned.
Vanessa Ryan joined the game for the second half, with Jaz Zabel appearing to have taken a knock during the first stanza. The teams realised that a drawn result would help neither cause, and this was reflected in the second-half play.
Olympic attacking midfielder Meg Roden fashioned two chances in the opening ten minutes of the second half, the first snatched at from distance and the second dealt with tidily by Tonini at ground level.
Choy was yellow-carded just after the hour, upending Thornton on the touchline. Thornton’s subsequent free-kick attempt on goal was saved with panache by Tonini.
The next ten minutes saw unsuccessful attempts on goal by Sykes, Olympic substitute Olivia Gurney, Gunners captain Maddy Perceval, Lockley, and another Olympic substitute Katrina Peric.
Kayla Wright entered the fray on 74 minutes, coming on for Gungahlin’s Ella-Rose Brown. This, the only substitution by Woodman, would prove to be telling as his team started turning up the attacking heat in the last 15 minutes, with Heyman working hard to turn things the Gunners’ way.
Two minutes of normal time remained when Heyman fed a through ball into the path of the sprinting Wright, who unerringly steered her left foot shot into the back of King’s net for a spirited win.
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Gungahlin’s fifth win from the last six games was achieved with half the shots on goal compared to Olympic, and the game was just Olympic’s second loss of the season. The result keeps the Gunners in the hunt for finals but fatally loosened Olympic’s claims to the league title.
Olympic will look to quickly put this result behind them as they prepare for a final round hit-out against Canberra United Academy. Gungahlin’s final game is against Canberra Croatia, and if they win that game they could yet sneak into the finals.
No matter Gungahlin’s fate at the tail end of this season, they are in good hands for next year, with coach Andrew Woodman appointed during the week after a great run with the team since taking over midseason.
Final score:
Gungahlin United 2 (McGlashan 29′, Wright 88′)
Canberra Olympic 1 (Thornton 13′)
Teams:
Gungahlin United – Coach: Andrew Woodman
Kailey Tonini, Adele Choy, Maddie Perceval (c), Jada Lamond, Erika Pennyfield, Piper Lockley, Rachael Corbett, Cassia McGlashan, Michelle Heyman, Sharon Chao, Ella-Rose Brown
Subs: Breea Waters, Kayla Wright (73′ => Ella-Rose Brown), Kellie Brown, Ariana Rathouski, Sophie Cauldrick
Yellow card: Choy 63′
Canberra Olympic – Coach: Nicole Begg
Janet King, Elke Aitolu, Ally Cook, Victoria Jamieson (c), Jaz Zabel, Sarah Johnston, Michaela Thornton, Meg Roden, Olivia Fogarty, Ash Sykes, Nicole Jalocha
Subs: Arusha Chew (82′ => Johnston), Brittany Fiorese, Vanessa Ryan (45′ => Zabel), Olivia Gurney (58′ => Fogarty), Katrina Peric (58′ => Jalocha)
Yellow card: Thornton 30′
Around The Grounds:
Round 16 catchup
Canberra Olympic 5-0 Tuggeranong United
Round 17 catchup
Wagga City Wanderers 1-3 West Canberra Wanderers
Round 20
Wagga City Wanderers 1-2 Belconnen United
Canberra United Academy 0-0 Tuggeranong United
West Canberra Wanderers 0-6 Canberra Croatia
The Canberra Croatia FC Monday night victory means that they are 2022 premiers – congratulations!
Ladder:
Next week:
Round 21
- Belconnen United vs West Canberra, McKellar Park, Saturday 10 Sep, 3pm
- Gungahlin United vs Canberra Croatia, Gungahlin Enclosed, Saturday 10 Sep, 3pm
- Canberra Olympic vs Canberra United Academy, O’Connor Enclosed, Sunday 11 Sep, 2:30pm
- Tuggeranong United vs Wagga City, Kambah 2, Sunday 11 Sep, 3pm
Follow all our ACT NPLW coverage here
