In Round 3 of the Capital Football NPLW competition, the game between ANU WFC and the West Canberra Wanderers at Ainslie would provide a yardstick for where the teams that finished fifth (the Wanderers) and sixth (ANU) in 2024 are now relative to each other.
Other games from this round include:
Gungahlin United vs Majura FC (full stream)
Canberra Olympic vs Tuggeranong United (full stream)
Belconnen United vs Canberra Croatia (full stream)
For an alternate review of the round, check out the Capital Football article from Sam Watson.
Recommended reading: Capital Football’s 2025 NPLW season preview
Match of the Round: ANU WFC vs West Canberra Wanderers
Our Round 1 wrap examined the off-season changes at ANU WFC; for the West Canberra Wanderers, the loss of versatile stalwart Sarah Whitfield has been offset by the arrival of a different style of attacking option in Tamara Cochrane. Having returned to the Wagga football scene in 2024, Cochrane showed in her time at the Canberra United Academy that she has speed to burn and an eye for goal. Whitfield, on the other hand, played more as a traditional number 9, comfortable with her back to goal, great with her head, and able to either unleash a shot or distribute to her wide runners.
With Cochrane on board, coach Steve Rohan-Jones has a quartet of ex-Academy talent at his disposal, with Charli Gregson, Perri Nash, and Alex Gidis.
ANU performed creditably in the second half of their second round 4-0 loss against one of the fancied teams in the competition in Canberra Croatia, conceding just one goal after being 3-0 down. This was an improved performance from their first up 5-0 loss against debutants Majura FC.
The ANU pattern, however, of sluggish starts followed by a period of commendable staunchness was to repeat itself in this match. A flat back four could not cope with the quality of the intelligent through balls for the flying Cochrane from midfielders Audrey Ward and Nash, with winger Zoe Halpin also providing great service from the right wing. ANU coach Sam Odgers was forced into some early positional adjustments, having watched Cochrane finish precisely on four occasions inside the opening eleven minutes. Gidis on the left wing was also able to exploit open space, and on a different day, she would likely have been able to capitalise on some of her opportunities.
It quickly became a bit of a rear-guard action for ANU, with players in their attacking line coming back to help out in defence, then, exhaustingly, moving upfield when possible for attacking moments. By this time, the Wanderers were happy to play with a back three (and sometimes a back two), compressing the students into their own half.
Remarkably, Cochrane would go on to record the first six goals of the match, all in the first half. The ANU side wasn’t without some rays of hope amongst the carnage. Once again, Kilkie Leten showed her class and elusiveness up front when given the opportunity. The combative Sienna Price worked tirelessly in the middle of the park, and Shayma Taweel showed composure and control in her endeavours.
It took 12 second-half minutes for Cochrane’s threat to re-emerge, shooting from outside keeper Garielle O’Brien’s penalty area. The shot was too hot to handle for O’Brien, and Halpin followed up for a tap-in and a 7-0 lead. At this point, the ‘shots on target’ statistic read 12 to 1 (the latter from Leten).
Cochrane’s substitution in the 65th minute wasn’t quite the end of the scoring story. An unconventional Wanderers corner was deflected into the path of Haplin with 15 minutes remaining, who steered the ball into the corner of the net. Gidis down the left flank posed the main threat to ANU in the latter part of the game amongst a litany of substitutions from both sides, but the score would remain at 8-0. As in the ANU second-round game, the ratio of goals conceded in the second half was a third of those conceded in the first.
>>> Full match timeline and team line-ups can be found here <<<
Final score:
ANU WFC 0
West Canberra Wanderers 8 (Tamara Cochrane 3′ 5′ 7′ 10′ 20′ 38′, Zoe Halpin 57′ 75′)
Around The Grounds:
Gungahlin United 8-0 Majura FC
Belconnen United 4-3 Canberra Croatia
Canberra Olympic 7-2 Tuggeranong United
Ladder:
Next round:
