We returned to McKellar Park on a glorious sunny afternoon for the first time since Canberra United’s last home game, for the Round 4 Capital Football NPLW match between first-placed Belconnen United and third-placed Gungahlin United.
Other games from this round include:
Tuggeranong United vs ANU WFC (full stream)
Majura FC vs Canberra Olympic (full stream)
Canberra Croatia vs West Canberra Wanderers (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: Belconnen United vs Gungahlin United
It’s Female Football Week, and Capital Football is staging several community events. As seen in the YouTube footage above, officials donned purple socks to mark the occasion.
The Blue Devils have looked fit and formidable thus far this season, and while Gungahlin has played a game less, they too are functioning well as a unit under new coach Marcial Munoz. If the midweek Federation Cup fixture against Canberra Olympic – a narrow 1-0 loss – was a cause for heavy Gunners legs, it must be said it didn’t show.
Hattie Cram looks to be out for an extended time for the Blue Devils, but their attacking wide threat remains with Keira Bobbin and Alina Roberts on either side of last year’s Golden Boot winner Alyssa Di Campli, and ex-Gunner Alex Martens just in behind.
We remarked back in Round 2 how Gungahlin has also boosted their attacking stocks with the arrival of Megan Castle from Canberra Croatia, and Bonnie Young from last season’s victorious reserve grade side. Add in two firing midfields and Young’s teammates from last season – Ivy Stevens and Chelsea Hately – in wide fullback roles with young legs to chase the Belco flyers, and the prospects for a mouthwatering affair were high.
Aware of the potency of the Gunners’ midfield, Belconnen coach Scott Conlon set his team up as a 3-4-3, leaving Bronte Pyke on the bench, captain Lauren Preston at right back, and Pearl Tein as a starting midfielder, joining Anneke Corry, Izzy Hindmarsh, and Martens. The Gunners kicked off with four at the back.
Conlon’s formation was key to his team’s success in this game. The Blue Devils applied ongoing pressure to midfielders Amy Moore and Stella and Nat De Marco, and it took until the second half for the Gunners to gain fluency in building attacks.
The Belco attack shone in the first half, with speed out wide and service from midfield and Ailish McDonagh from the back proving difficult to contain. Their first attack came courtesy of a Gunners defensive turnover, with Tein finding Roberts on the right. The delivery behind the defence was perfectly weighted for Di Campli to neatly dispatch for a 1-0 lead.
Both teams survived some nervous moments in their own penalty areas as the game settled. A bullet of a Tein shot close to the 30-minute mark foreshadowed a second goal. It wasn’t long before Bobbin ghosted in front of her defender in the six-yard box to make the most of Corry’s ball, doubling the Blue Devils’ lead.
Munoz brought Darby Whiteley on for Ginger Oliver and Rachael Van Aalst for Ayla Robertson at half time, but Roberts and Bobbin combined beautifully just three minutes in to secure a third home goal. Rounding her defender down the left flank, Roberts’ accurate ball found Bobbin once again reacting a moment quicker than her defender and finishing neatly from close range.
The Gungahlin response was magnificent, with the Blue Devils perhaps relaxing a little at three goals up and allowing more room for their opponents’ passing game. Whiteley’s energy also proved to be important, but she needed to do better in front of goal in the 52nd minute when a peach of a ball from Young behind the Belconnen defence begged to be put away.
Whiteley turned provider for Young on the back of a trademark passing move started by Stella De Marco just three minutes later, with Young capping off a great team goal to make it 3-1. Gungahlin’s tails were up, and it was now the turn of the home side to struggle to contain their opponents.
An intriguing finish to the game beckoned when Gunghalin made it 3-2 with under 20 minutes remaining, thanks to a stunning 25-yard strike from Young. The speculative shot from the increasingly confident Young found the smallest of gaps between keeper Matilde Laurel Tighe’s gloves and the crossbar.
When Whiteley’s 77th-minute shot came off the Blue Devils crossbar with Stella De Marco nearly squaring the game up, the home side woke from their stupor. The last 10 minutes were fascinating, with both teams now in full attacking flight. It took Martens teeing up Di Campli at close range with three minutes left to finally kill off the game at 4-2.
This was a game that an appreciative McKellar Park crowd couldn’t take their eyes off. If the Blue Devils attack often gets the plaudits, we were also impressed with Maddie Steinacker’s positioning and control in the centre of the Blue Devils’ defence. There were also plenty of positives to take out of the Gunners’ performance and their response to being three goals down, and we can’t wait for more quality NPLW action in the same vein.
>>> Full match timeline and team line-ups can be found here <<<
Final score:
Belconnen United 4 (Alyssa Di Campli 4′ 86′, Keira Bobbin 39′ 49′)
Gungahlin United 2 (Bonnie Young 54′, 73′)
Around The Grounds:
Tuggeranong United 1-0 ANU WFC
Majura FC 1-2 Canberra Olympic
Canberra Croatia 2-1 West Canberra Wanderers
Federation Cup results (Quarter Finals) in the last week
ANU WFC 1-4 West Canberra Wanderers
Canberra Olympic 1-0 Gungahlin United
Ladder:
Next round:
