Round 12 produced a bevy of interesting contests for those following the 2022 NPL Capital Football season.

Highlighting the round was a first-ever win for Wagga City Wanderers over Canberra United Academy (also Wagga City’s first win of 2022). We also saw former Canberra Olympic coach Andrew Woodman take charge of Gungahlin United for the first time, against a highly motivated Tuggeranong United.

All three Sunday games had strong windy conditions to contend with. Beyond 90 was fortunate to be at McKellar Park for a less breezy Saturday game between third-placed Belconnen United and ladder leaders Canberra Croatia.

For an alternate take on the game, see Melanie Dinjaski’s article in the Canberra Times. Jeremy Magan has also produced a round wrap for Capital Football.

Other Round 12 games included the following:

Gungahlin United vs Tuggeranong United
Canberra United Academy vs Wagga City Wanderers
West Canberra Wanderers vs Canberra Olympic

Match of the Round: Belconnen United vs Canberra Croatia

No Bella Barac, no Krista Hagen, no Alice Churchill, no Nat Vasta, no Dianne Wilson … and no worries for Canberra Croatia.

Those outs saw starts for youngsters Scarlett Spong and Anna Ross, who both set up down the right edge of the field, with the experienced Jennie Bisset in between to help guide them. Regular right-winger Sienna Birnie showed her versatility with a midfield berth.

Belconnen had challenges of their own, despite having a settled look about them the last few weeks with the returns of Marija Rathouski and Karen Clarke. Last round’s game was deferred to Tuesday, perhaps making for some sore bodies just four days later. Regular attacking flyer Keira Bobbin is also still playing restricted minutes.

It quickly became apparent that Canberra Croatia’s Jamie Berkeley was taking Krista Hagen’s absence seriously, helping to direct traffic from a defensive midfield position. Brittany Palombi out on the left wing was matched up to Blue Devils defensive firebrand Rathouski; watching this battle unfold was worth the seat at McKellar Park alone. 

It was ex-Canberra United player Bec Kiting, however, who opened proceedings, rising high above her defender at the back post in the 14th minute to head home Berkeley’s corner.

Blue Devils right-sided midfielder Reilly Yuen showed off a high level of skill in the 23rd minute, bringing down a high ball and engaging in a smart wall pass movement with Olivia Bomford that unfortunately came to naught.

The two captains in this game are always a treat to watch. Grace Gill stands out with her composure, smarts, distribution and ability to shield the ball, while Talia Backhouse catches the eye with her work rate in both defence and attack.  

Just after the half-hour mark a Blue Devils turnover to Bisset gave her a glimpse of keeper Jayla Murphy off her line, but the speculative attempt on goal sailed wide. Five minutes later Palombi beat the Blue Devils’ offside trap on the left wing, delivering the ball on a plate to Ross, who calmly passed the ball into the net to double the lead.

Canberra Croatia central defender Rhiannon Fensom diffused a promising Blue Devils attack late in the half after fine leadup-work between Stefi Lejins and Katie Woodman. The teams went into the sheds with the ladder leaders making the most of their two opportunities on goal.

Not for the first time this season, the home side came into the second half with renewed vigour. A Bomford corner three minutes into the half was almost bundled into the Canberra Croatia goal after Angelica Pahina misjudged the bounce, but the ball somehow failed to cross the goal line.

A corner in response six minutes later saw Amy McLachlan’s header loop just over the Belconnen right post. A volley off another corner from team-mate Ross on the hour also narrowly missed, and if you are getting a sense that set pieces were important in the outcome of this game, you are correct.

With 21 minutes remaining, Bomford’s back-post corner found Karen Clarke’s head, her accuracy in finding the net matching that of Kiting earlier in the game.

Now at 2-1 to the visitors, it was game on. Belconnen coach Scott Conlon made an attacking substitution, bringing on Pearl Tein for Rathouski, with Bobbin having entered the fray a little earlier.

Yet the Blue Devils pouring forward also opened opportunities for Canberra Croatia. One of Gill’s final acts before being substituted with around 15 minutes to go was to challenge Murphy’s sweeper-keeper instincts, with Murphy up to the task. 

Further set-piece opportunities to Backhouse and Palombi were blocked by defensive walls, and try as they might, the home side was unable to pull an equaliser off in the remaining time.

Canberra Croatia coach Zoran Glavinic will be well satisfied with the win given the youth in the starting lineup and on the bench.

While doubtless disappointed with the narrow loss, the Blue Devils’ second-half form once again shows that they can match the top two teams. Their challenge is to do this consistently for 90 minutes.

Final score:

Belconnen United 1 (Clarke 69′)
Canberra Croatia 2 (Kiting 14′ Ross 36′)

Teams:

Belconnen United – Coach: Scott Conlon

Jayla Murphy, Marija Rathouski, Sophia Doumos, Karen Clarke, Stefi Lejins, Lauren Preston, Katie Woodman, Talia Backhouse (c), Reilly Yuen, Olivia Bomford, Tia Burridge

Subs: Keira Bobbin (65′ => Burridge), Sofia Polywoda (65′ => Woodman), Samantha Price, Pearl Tein (73′ => Rathouski), Madeline Steinacker

Canberra Croatia – Coach: Zoran Glavinic

Angelina Pahina, Scarlett Spong, Rhiannon Fensom, Amy McLachlan, Bec Kiting, Jennie Bisset, Jamie Berkeley, Sienna Birnie, Anna Ross, Grace Gill (c), Brittany Palombi 

Subs: Maddison Sawkins (85′ => Ross), Kass Guglielmin (76′ => Gill), Shania Settin, Bianca Di Iulio

Around The Grounds:

Gungahlin United 3-1 Tuggeranong United
Canberra United Academy 1-2 Wagga City Wanderers
West Canberra Wanderers 0-3 Canberra Olympic

Ladder:

Next week:

No games (Kanga Cup)

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