Successive weekends of cold, wet conditions meant that once again only half the allocated ACT NPL (Capital Football) Women’s first-grade games were able to be played. We travelled to the synthetic surface of Hawker Football Centre to watch a top-four clash between Canberra United Academy and Canberra Olympic.

The only other game that was playable was Canberra Croatia vs Gungahlin United, well worth a look for the comeback that played out. The games that were washed out were ANU vs  West Canberra Wanderers, and Tuggeranong United vs Belconnen United.

For an alternate review of the round, check out Jeremy Magan’s article for Capital Football.

Match of the Round: Canberra United Academy vs Canberra Olympic (Bar TV)

With both teams having suffered midweek Federation Cup semi-final losses, they would have been determined to come out of the end of the cold and wet week with some league points to their name. Olympic fielded the same starting lineup as their midweek outing, while the Academy brought in Georgia Ritchie, Alex Nealand, Angelina Babic, and Elisha Wild for Eliza Evans, Maddie Sawkins, Riley McQueenie, and Nina Zaravec.  

The game quickly settled into a midfield tussle with both sides handling the wet conditions. The Academy central defence, well marshalled by captain Maia Cameron, were prepared to drop deep as required. Olympic attacking midfielder Nicole Jalocha unleashed an early shot from range. Minutes later, Academy left-back Alex Nealand impressed with a run down the left flank, two-stepping her defender and crossing sublimely. The subsequent laid-off ball for Latisha Babic was fired over Janet King’s crossbar.

Olympic striker Maddie Whittall was everywhere, applying significant pressure to the Academy defence when they were in possession. Olympic wide attacker Olivia Gurney kept the pressure up in another no less effective way, imposing her physical presence in challenges. At the other end, speedster Tamara Cochrane, who performed wonderfully in the midweek semi-final, found opportunities and service limited. 

Half an hour into the match, Jalocha found herself unattended with the ball at her feet. A wall pass with Michaela Thornton saw Jalocha steady herself and place a quality strike from 25 yards over the outstretched arm of Ritchie and into the top right corner.

Olympic defensive midfielder Jaz Zabel’s goal-line challenge on Tiana Boots late in the half saw a yellow card issued and Boots exiting the game with a sore arm. Moments later, Gurney fed a through ball for Whittall who tucked the ball neatly under Ritchie for a two-goal halftime lead. Whittall would rightly be named player of the match by her club after the game.

Young Olympic right-sided midfielder Alexia Cerne enjoyed a fine second half as both sides struggled to fashion clear opportunities on goal. Those that did present themselves were mostly easy pickings for the goalkeepers.  

With 20 minutes remaining, one of those rare chances arose, as Gurney’s wide ball into the Academy box eluded a defender and found the onrushing Thornton. Twisting, Thornton was able to find the bottom right corner of the net with her left foot and extend the Olympic lead to three goals. 

Alyssa Di Campli almost replied immediately, winning the ball from Thornton in a good position and firing low but just wide of King’s goal.

Both teams emptied their benches over the remaining minutes. Ritchie did well to apply pressure on Cerne in her own six-yard box with 13 minutes remaining, preventing a fourth Olympic goal, but the score was to remain 3-0 to the visitors as the game wound down.   

The home side certainly competed well throughout this game but their attacking talents were able to be subdued by the industry of the Olympic side. It wasn’t a great day for Academy dead ball opportunities, with several threatening positions not able to be capitalised on.

Canberra Olympic may not have an obvious traditional goal-scoring focal point like some teams in the league but with attacking threats all over the park, does that really matter if the team as a whole is getting the job done? We look forward to finding out the answer to that question as the season unfolds.

>>> Full match time-line and team line-ups can be found here <<<   

Final score:

Canberra United Academy 0
Canberra Olympic 3 (Nicole Jalocha 33′, Maddie Whittall 45′, Michaela Thornton 69′) 

Around The Grounds:

Canberra Croatia 2-2 Gungahlin United

Midweek Federation Cup semi-finals

Canberra United Academy 0-5 Belconnen United
Canberra Olympic 1-2 Gungahlin United 

Ladder:

Next Round:

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