A late venue shift saw the Round 4 Capital Football NPLW fixture between fourth-placed Gungahlin United and fifth-placed ANU occur at Woden Park.
Canberra Olympic v Tuggeranong United is the other game from this round that can be viewed – click here for the full stream (highlights are also available here). Canberra Croatia vs West Canberra Wanderers was postponed to mid-May.
For an alternate review of the round, check out the Capital Football article from Jeremy Magan.
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Match of the Round: Gungahlin United vs ANU (Bar TV)
(Highlights are also available here).
A single point and ladder position between two teams doesn’t always tell the full story, and this was never more evident than after the game between the Gunners and the Students. ANU was down by three goals after just 17 minutes and conceded another five goals before full time, with no goal of their own to show for their efforts.
Perhaps the comparison isn’t fair; this ANU side only bears a passing resemblance to the one from their inaugural NPLW season, while several Gungahlin United players have spent years playing together in different formats of the game, honing their style. A recent Federation Cup drubbing by the Gunners over their opponents may have also been in the backs of the players’ minds as they walked onto Woden Park.
Attacking game-changers were named on the bench for either side, with speedster Darby Whiteley waiting in the wings for the black and white, while Sheridan Mcelligott did the same for ANU. While Briana Maguire played a fine game as a central defender in ANU’s first outing, coach Tom Crossley had her in a wider defensive role for this one, perhaps conscious of the speed on offer down the Gungahlin flanks.
Interestingly, a similar pattern to ANU’s game emerged here as it did during their first game – the strongest part of their performance came in the second portion of the first half. Most of the early play took part in the ANU half, with the Gunners’ passing game, ability to find space between the lines, and width serving them well.
Alex Nealand’s left flank burst led to the first goal in the 13th minute, with her delivery teeing up Alex Martens’ first-time shot at close range. Three minutes late Kayla Wright spotted keeper Olivia Kent off her line, with Wright’s accuracy from distance something to behold. Nat De Marco joined the scoring party two minutes later, her fierce volley smashing down off the ANU crossbar and into the roof of the net.
Recognising that something had to change, Crossley moved ballplayer Latisha Babic into the centre of the ANU defence. For the balance of the half the Students held the Gunners’ advances, despite a mounting corner kick tally. ANU’s first shot on Matilde Laurel Tighe’s goal came in the 22nd minute courtesy of Sofia Furlanetto. A persistent bloody nose forced Gunners right-back Jada Lamond from the field following Tighe’s save, with Erika Pennyfield entering the fray.
A three-goal lead at the break allowed Gungahlin coach Nick van Aalst to bring Whiteley on for Wright, and Corinne Denton on for Ayla Robertson in defence. Whiteley’s first touch was a goal, thanks to Ginger Oliver’s cross and some smart lead-up work from Stella De Marco. Less than ten minutes later Whiteley returned the favour, outpacing Babic and laying off to the unattended Oliver in the 6-yard box for a fifth goal.
A Whiteley crossbar effort just on the hour was countered by Sofia Chaverra crossing for the onrushing Saskia Newman at the other end, with Tighe doing well to get there first. ANU made substitutions but seemed unable to exert fresh-legs-pressure on the superior Gungahlin passing-based attacking game.
The Gunners finished as they started, with three goals punctuating the game in the final ten minutes. Denton’s bullet strike gave Kent no chance, with Whiteley completing a brace just after, once again in partnership with Oliver. Maddie Perceval’s back post header from an Oliver corner in the 89th minute was the icing on the Gungahlin cake.
It’s too early to decry this result as exemplifying a gap between the top four and the rest of the competition. Still, it leaves Crossley searching for answers as to where to best deploy his midfielders and defenders according to their strengths. For their part, the Gunners will be eyeing off their next top-four opponent (Canberra Croatia, also coming into form) on this showing.
>>> Full match timeline and team line-ups can be found here <<<
Related reading: Gungahlin looking to build ‘standard of success’ under van Aalst (Sam Watson/Capital Football)
Final score:
Gungahlin United 8 (Alex Martens 12′, Kayla Wright 15′, Nat De Marco 17′, Darby Whiteley 46′ 82′, Ginger Oliver 55′, Corinne Denton 80′, Maddie Perceval 89′)
ANU 0
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