Twenty-one glorious rounds await Capital Football NPLW fans and the eight teams contesting the competition in 2021.

The first round included a match-up between West Canberra FC and Canberra Olympic FC, two teams headed up by new NPLW1 head coaches (and ex-W-League players) Emma Stanbury and Nicole Begg. Extra spice was provided by a number of players crossing over to the other team during the off-season.

Other Round 1 games that were held this weekend included:

Belconnen United vs Wagga City Wanderers
Canberra Croatia FC vs Canberra United Academy
Gungahlin United vs Tuggeranong United

Match of the Round: West Canberra FC vs Canberra Olympic

West Canberra FC season preview
Canberra Olympic season preview

There was a major signing announcement just prior to this game between last season’s fourth-placed Canberra Olympic and sixth-placed West Canberra – Tiana Jaber, most recently of Newcastle Jets, was announced as West Canberra’s latest signing.

Seeing the likes of last year’s Woden-Weston (now West Canberra) captain Anna Vandenbroucke in opposition colours was a little jarring for a short while, but spectators will soon get used to the idea of Vandenbroucke, Iesha De Andrade, Jemima Millar-Carton, and Lucy D’Arcy running around in the blue and white of Canberra Olympic … just as Olympic supporters will be getting used to the idea of Emma Guo in the red and black.

As the match kicked off, the home side was playing with Jaber at centre back alongside Samantha Briggs, with Emma Stanbury at 6 (defensive holding midfield) in front of the energetic Briana Maguire in centre midfield, and captain Sarah Whitfield at the point of attack. Guo took her place on the right side of midfield with Demi Nikias on the left.

The visitors also lined up with strength in the spine, with Ali Cook marshalling central defence, Lara Burdett sweeping in front of the defence, last year’s Monaro Panthers captain Raechel Hardwicke in the centre of midfield with Jemima Millar-Carton, and prolific goal-scorer Ash Sykes playing as central striker. Captain Victoria Jamieson lined up in her customary left-back position from which to inspire her team, while Iesha De Andrade – a wide back for her opponents the last couple of seasons – lined up at right-wing, with Vandenbroucke on the left.

The first half-hour belonged to Olympic, with early shots to Hardwicke (fifth minute) and Cook from distance (ninth minute) setting the tone. Indeed, they were the first to score at the 14 minute mark, as De Andrade won the ball near the halfway line, rode two challenges, and then played a delightful ball for Sykes to run onto.

This isn’t the first defence over the years to struggle with Sykes’ speed and ability to get past and behind the defence; on this occasion, her shot was deflected by West Canberra keeper Janet King to King’s right, but only into the path of Vandenbroucke for a tap-in.

At the 20 minute mark, Cook again showed her liking for bringing the ball forward and striking from distance, this time hitting the West Canberra crossbar. Just four minutes later, Sykes fed a ball across the top of the West Canberra box which was missed by Vandenbroucke but met sweetly by Hardwicke’s drive, also onto the crossbar. The ball remarkably bounced onto King’s back, but somehow did not find its way over the goal-line. 

It was around this point in the game, which had been all Olympic till then, that West Canberra started finding its feet and coming back into the contest. Stanbury led the way with several outstanding surges forward, scything her way past opponents and providing passes to the forward line and midfielders. It was reminiscent of her time at Tuggeranong United in 2020 but there Stanbury was playing in a more advanced midfield role and linking up with her forwards. Here she was doing something similar but from further back in the field. Stanbury was ably supported by the tireless Maguire in midfield, and this served to lift the team in red and black.

Near the half-hour mark Guo scuffed the home side’s first shot, but a neat chip-and-go move by Maguire not long after resulted in a shot that nearly found Whitfield in dangerous areas in the Olympic box. As half time approached the teams traded blows, with a Jaber free-kick belted straight at Aurelia Haynes in the Olympic goal, followed by Whitfield on the end of an attacking sequence that King was able to parry away for a corner. 

With four minutes to go in the half, King struggled to get a finger onto a deceptive Vandenbroucke left foot poke towards the bottom right corner of the West Canberra goal, but the half was to end with a one-goal lead to the visitors despite Whitfield’s late attempt on the Olympic goal onto the left post.

There were no changes at half-time, and in the second half the even nature of the contest made for fascinating viewing. A good-natured tussle between a grinning Stanbury and Sykes was a lovely way to open the proceedings in the first five minutes of the half, even as Stanbury conceded a cheeky free-kick.

Some of the younger players on the field were growing in confidence as the game progressed. Both keepers had solid outings. For Olympic, Courtney Halse put in a good shift in defence alongside Cook, while West Canberra’s Isabella Stone at left-back and Kilkie Leten at right-wing impressed for their team. Leten was especially delighted in the 52rd minute as Guo’s cross in from the right touchline found her in Olympic’s six-yard box, with Leten’s assertive header deflected into the Olympic goal off a defender to level the scores at 1-1.

Just on the hour mark Stanbury fired in an impressive shot from the right edge of the Olympic corner box at a perfect height, which just whistled past the left post.

The second half also saw signs of a fruitful understanding emerging between Sykes and Vandenbroucke. There were moments where they were looking for each other in space to deadly effect, as in the 65th minute when the end result was a shot blasted over the bar by Vandenbroucke, off the back of a terrific Sykes pass across the top of the West Canberra box.

The teams continued to trade attacking blows as the substitutes were rung in. Jaber was impressively able to find the energy to quickly cut off a dangerous through ball for Olympic’s Audrey McLaren’s fresh attacking legs late in the game, but all of West Canberra’s good work was undone after Sykes was able to step to her left in the penalty box with ball at feet to elude her defender, and smash in the winner early in stoppage time.

After the game, player-coach Emma Stanbury was reflective, saying that for all the good points, West Canberra was let down by fitness at the end of the game, and occasionally panicky. 

“When we weren’t tired, I liked that we had a killer attitude in defence and never gave up, and we were winning the midfield battle at that time, especially towards the end of the first half. There were many positives, and lots to work on, it was a good game.”

On how the signing of Jaber came about, Stanbury noted, “Tiana is a good friend of mine, she’s a fringe player in the W-League, been playing with Sydney University; I’ve done a lot of mentoring with her the past few years and had a chat with her … everyone that knows Tiana knows she’s a fantastic player. So I said ‘Come here for five months, your football is great, let’s work on other parts of your game’. So I’ve got her stepping into where she’s more of a leader at an early age; in Sydney she wouldn’t necessarily have that opportunity, she’s got the likes of Kendall Fletcher and some older girls down there.”

Stanbury was impressed with Maguire and Stone, saying 16-year-old Stone reminded her of Jaber at the same age, and was keen for the two defenders to work together so that Stone learns as much from Jaber as she can.

Olympic coach Nicole Begg remarked with a wry smile that, “I hope all the games aren’t as stressful as that one; yes, it was really good. I was super happy with the effort from the girls and I thought it was a really competitive match played in good spirits by both sides.

“I think we started really well and the girls put into practice what we worked on in pre-season, then kind of dropped off a bit with the one-goal lead and getting a bit tired in the legs. It’s important for us going forward that we can keep that consistency through longer than the first half.

“We’ve had a few more injuries than I would have liked in our pre-season but overall we’ve come along well; this squad’s built really well. We’ve got a lot of new faces, so it’s going to take time for those girls to gel well together, but in a game like that today, being able to fight out a win when not everything is working perfectly for you, it sets us up for the rest of the year; I was really happy with that.”

Final score:

West Canberra 1 (Leten 70′)

Canberra Olympic 2 (Vandenbroucke 14′, Sykes 90′)

Teams:

West Canberra – Coach: Emma Stanbury

Janet King, Hannah Coppell, Samantha Briggs, Tiana Jaber, Isabella Stone, Emma Guo, Emma Stanbury, Briana Maguire, Demi Nikias, Kilkie Leten, Sarah Whitfield (c)

Subs: Jelena Josipovic, Elizabeth Edwards (46′ => Nikias), Emma Alfonso (76′ => Guo), Ana Chaverra Calle (75′ => Whitfield), Hattie Cram (46′ => Coppell)

Yellow cards: Jaber (90’+3′)

Canberra Olympic – Coach: Nicole Begg

Aurelia Haynes, Sienna Farrar, Courtney Halse, Ali Cook, Victoria Jamieson (c), Lara Burdett, Rachael Hardwicke, Jemima Millar-Carton, Anna Vandenbroucke, Ashleigh Sykes, Iesha De Andrade

Subs: Ellie Summers, Lucy D’Arcy (72′ => Burdett), Olivia Farrell, Brittany Fiorese (76′ => Hardwicke), Audrey McLaren (78′ => De Andrade)

Yellow cards: Cook (90’+3′)

Around The Grounds:

Belconnen United 8 – 1 Wagga City
Canberra Croatia 2 – 2 Canberra United Academy
Gungahlin United 4 – 0 Tuggeranong United

Ladder:

Next week:

West Canberra vs Canberra Croatia, Melrose Synthetic, Saturday 17 April, 12:45pm
Belconnen United vs Canberra United Academy, McKellar Park, Saturday 17 April, 3:00pm
Canberra Olympic vs Gungahlin United, O’Connor Enclosed, Sunday 18 April, 2:15pm
Tuggeranong United vs Wagga City, Kambah 201, Sunday 18 April, 2:30pm  

Follow all our ACT NPLW coverage here.