The start of the second full round saw two teams camped at the foot of the table keen to kickstart their ACT NPL (Capital Football) seasons, as Tuggeranong United hosted West Canberra Wanderers at Kambah.

Other Round 8 games were:
Belconnen United vs Gungahlin United
Canberra Olympic vs Canberra Croatia
Canberra United Academy vs ANU 

For an alternate review of the round, check out Jeremy Magan’s article for Capital Football. Capital Football’s goals highlights of the round can also be viewed.

Match of the Round: Tuggeranong United vs West Canberra Wanderers (Bar TV)

In Female Football week it’s great that there have been some announcements and awards of note: the National Talent Challenge (NTC) squad was announced for upcoming games in Victoria, while female football awards voted upon by the Canberra football community were announced and celebrated.

NPL-wise, back in Round 1 the visiting Tuggeranong defeated the Wanderers, but neither side has managed to pick up a point since then. The 2023 Wanderers squad contains two ex-Tuggeranong players from last season, Lauren Hall and Cara Ceruti, but is largely leaning on captain Sarah Whitfield as the main goal-scoring threat, having lost three of their four leading scorers from last season to other clubs.

For this Round 8 game, Tuggeranong took the field with neither of the Emms sisters (goalkeeper Samantha and midfielder Jade) and neither usual centre-back (captain Lara Mustaine and Ash-Lea Condon). Of the four, three of them (aside from Mustaine) had been absent the last two games. The absences would prove to be telling. The Wanderers looked to be close to full strength, and in a sign of their intent, started their captain as central striker.

The first half remained scoreless with the Wanderers enjoying a clear majority of corner kicks and time in the opposition half. The home side looked most dangerous when central midfielders Rainey Niles and Sammie Wood were on the ball, especially when they looked for each other. Both are lively and comfortable on the ball (Wood was in the Canberra United 2012-13 squad), not to mention capable of deception. The Wanderers, however, were generally more effective in moving the ball around the park as a whole, and when the ball reached Whitfield you always sensed that Amy Wiggan in the Tuggeranong goal was under threat.

Both teams, however, were guilty of the same behaviour in the first half which prevented them back from taking the lead. Perhaps unaccustomed to having as many chances in their attacking thirds as was the case in this game, they both had a shoot-on-sight mentality. As a result, almost every shot came from well outside the 18-yard box, and very few of those troubled either keeper. 

Credit goes to the Wanderers coaching team in particular for identifying this issue and asking for patience in moving the ball closer in the front third to more dangerous shooting zones. The message was taken on board and finally bore fruit in the last five minutes of the game when the Wanderers scored twice.

Wanderers substitute Kate Walker replaced Kaitlyn Colwill at half-time but it was Tuggeranong midfielder Abbey Hurman who started the half brightly. Beginning a move deep in her own half and following through to a near one-on-one with Wanderers keeper Samantha Briggs, Briggs did well to anticipate the threat.

A Niles shot from distance ten minutes in looked destined for the top left corner but Briggs was also able to somehow pluck this one out from the air. By the hour mark it was becoming evident that the Wanderers had taken on the message of not always shooting from range, as the game began to turn their way.

A promising moment fell Eliza-Jane Norris’ way with 18 minutes remaining as her low shot from close to the Tuggeranong six-yard box was deflected by a defender for a corner. Not long after, a delightful Tuggeranong passage of play took place in left midfield, with Charli Gregson, Niles, and Hurman executing multiple triangular passing moves.

Wanderers centre-back Demi Nikias strode tall through the heart of the Tuggeranong defence with ten minutes remaining, but her strike couldn’t elude Amy Wiggan in goals. Sensing the urgency, Wanderers wide midfielder Nikita Perry took matters into her own hands, finding the energy to spark a magic late ten minutes for her team and drifting more central in directing attacking moves. When Perry took a corner with three minutes remaining, Ceruti showed courage attacking the ball, heading it down and into the back of the net for the lead.   

The Wanderers’ excitement was palpable and two minutes later it was Perry once again, finding Norris on the right. An early ball to Walker in the box was met with a composed first touch. A right-foot finish in the left corner of the Tuggeranong net sealed the Wanderers’ win.    

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

A trophy is up for grabs in the coming weekend, as Belconnen United and Gungahlin United contest the Federation Cup final at Deakin Stadium at 2pm.

Final score:

Tuggeranong United 0 
West Canberra Wanderers 2 (Cara Ceruti 87′, Kate Walker 89′)

Around The Grounds:

Ladder:

Next Round:

Federation Cup finals – the women’s edition will be contested at Deakin Stadium on Saturday, June 3rd at 2pm, between Belconnen United and Gungahlin United. 

A midweek catchup game from Round 5 is also on offer:

Follow all our ACT NPLW coverage here.