Round 10 of the Capital Football NPLW competition was deferred to last weekend. We travelled to Melrose Synthetic to witness the game between West Canberra Wanderers and Gungahlin United.
Other games from this round include:
Tuggeranong United vs ANU WFC (full stream)
Belconnen United vs Canberra Croatia (full stream)
For an alternate review of the round, check out the Capital Football article from Jeremy Magan.
Match of the Round: West Canberra Wanderers vs Gungahlin United (Bar TV)
Both protagonists were coming off absorbing midweek games. Wednesday night saw fifth-placed Wanderers host competition leaders Canberra Olympic, narrowly losing 2-1. A day later, third-placed Gunners enjoyed their first-ever win over Canberra Croatia at Deakin Stadium, winning 2-1. A spring in the step was justifiable for every player on the park as the whistle blew for their match on Sunday.
A synthetic home pitch confers a certain measure of advantage over visiting teams due to the different bounce and the tendency for the ball to not hold up on the surface. However, when your opponent excels in an accurate passing game, that advantage can melt away.
This sums up the proceedings at Melrose Synthetic. Several Gunners players have a futsal background and this helped them to move the ball smoothly around and between lines. West Canberra were willing and consistent in effort, but found themselves lacking in possession and on the back foot.
Minor positional changes were evident in both teams since the last time we saw them live – this may have been due to the rigours of the week. Perri Nash didn’t take the field for the Wanderers, having played on Wednesday, while Emma Leonard came into the middle of the defence alongside Olivia Hicks, pushing Steph Nikias to right back. Alex Martens wasn’t available for the visitors, with Olivia Buyteweg taking on an attacking midfield role.
A wonderful piece of Gungahlin play in the 12th minute led to the first goal. The understanding between left-back Alex Nealand and Ginger Oliver came to the fore in a left flank wall-pass move which saw Nealand picking out an unattended Buyteweg at the back post, who made no mistake with the finish. Nealand would prove to be a handful on the left side, finding Jade Brown’s head with crosses on more than one occasion. Buyteweg was also a constant menace in probably the best performance of hers that we’ve witnessed, able to find space in dangerous areas. Attacking partner Sharon Chao has the same ability and her moment would arrive later in the game.
The Gunners aren’t just about the short passing game, with Oliver and Corinne Denton both adept at shooting from distance and delivering fine set pieces. Neither were able to find the goal but Denton came closest, driving a free kick onto the crossbar in the 40th minute.
Audrey Ward put in a determined performance for the Wanderers, doing her best to close down the Gunners’ threats from midfield. Her team hit the sheds at halftime a goal down but the effort from her team wasn’t lacking, rather it was turnovers that were hurting them.
Patterns of play didn’t appreciably change when the second half started, as a dangerous Nealand ball low across the face of the Wanderers goal managed to elude a finishing touch. Chao scored her team’s second and final goal not long after in the 51st minute, riding a challenge while running onto Nat De Marco’s through ball, and toeing the ball past the approaching Amy Wiggan.
It’s fair to say that Wiggan had a testing day of it, but accounted for herself well. Sammy Emms, on the other hand, had very little to do in the other goal, often camping just her side of the centre circle to provide a passing option if needed. Her eyes would have widened in the 53rd minute, however, as a turnover gave Sarah Whitfield enough room to launch a shot onto the Gungahlin crossbar.
This would be the closest the home side got to scoring. Emms would be called into action on just one other significant occasion, diving to intercept Olivia Hicks’ cross late in the game.
After an hour, Ward had an important defensive moment, nudging Stella De Marco legally off the ball to diffuse De Marco’s dart into the box.
Ever-dangerous Darby Whiteley entered the game for the Gunners in the 65th minute but despite lots of attacking intent, neither she nor her team were able to breach the Wanderers’ defence and then fire an accurate enough shot for maximum effect.
2-0 for the visitors is how it remained, in a game that felt like the margin on balance probably could have been higher. The game will serve as a nice confidence sustainer for Gungahlin’s match against leaders Canberra Olympic, while for the Wanderers the job doesn’t get any easier as they take on the Blue Devils.
>>> Full match timeline and team line-ups can be found here <<<
Final score:
West Canberra Wanderers 0
Gungahlin United 2 (Olivia Buyteweg 11′, Sharon Chao 50′)
Around The Grounds:
Tuggeranong United 0-2 ANU WFC
Belconnen United 2-2 Canberra Croatia
Ladder:
Next Round:
