It’s hard to believe that the day has arrived but it’s so great that it has: the Capital Football NPLW1 competition is finally here in season 2020 !

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Match of the Round: Gungahlin United v Canberra Olympic

An intriguing match of the round awaited fans, with the home side (top four finishers in 2019; see season preview here) having the most settled-looking squad in the competition, while the visitors (see season preview here) are early season picks for greatest improvers in season 2020.

With only nine rounds – including a bye to each team – before a two week finals series, every point gained will be precious in season 2020. Teams that hit the ground running and who have adjusted best to the disrupted pre-season will have an advantage over teams that take time to find their feet. With their superior understanding between players, Gungahlin United held some advantage today in this respect, and on the back of this were able to come away with a 2-0 victory over a Canberra Olympic team that played with discipline, vigour, and promise, but whom ultimately failed to put away their opportunities.

Gungahlin United walks away with a 2-0 win over Canberra Olympic in the NPLW Match of the Round! #FootballReturns pic.twitter.com/Esj2SPLDWg

— NPL Capital Football (@officialNPLCF) July 19, 2020

As the teams took their places for kick-off, it was immediately apparent that the Gunners’ midfield had a fresh look compared to season 2019, with Tianah Miro (local Gungahlin junior who played for Canberra United Academy in 2018) and Stefi Lejins (Canberra United Academy defender in 2019) joining the talented Stella De Marco in a 4-3-3 formation. Ex-Belconnen United player Ayla Robertson lined up at right back for her first outing in the black-and-white. Otherwise, however, this was a familiar team from 2019. Alex Paterson returned to the squad on the bench, but Jade Brown was missing due to recovering from illness.

For their part, Olympic also lined up as a 4-3-3 with changes across the board compared to 2019. Ex-Matilda Ashleigh Sykes was absent today (coach Andrew Woodman later explained to Beyond 90 that her absence was precautionary, due to a leg strain picked up at training a few weeks back), while sister and ex-Canberra United captain Nicole Begg – whose presence was the talking point of the game – was to operate in a free roaming attacking midfield role. Captain Victoria Jamieson and Alexandra Cook were joined in defence by new signings Ella Hemmings (Monaro Panthers, 2018) and Chloe Rudd (Belconnen United, 2018). In front of them sat an all-new midfield in the shape of Begg, Lara Burdett and Sienna Farrar (both from the 2018 Monaro Panthers team), while NSW NPL2 player Kellie Brown joined Emma Guo and Eleanor Jones up front.       

The first half went by without any goals but some noteworthy trends soon became obvious. First, defensive-wise, this is not the 2019 Canberra Olympic team. This 2020 team is committed to closing down their opponent – doing so all game – and there is a steel and organisation in them (especially in the centre back pairing of Hemmings and Cook) that should serve them well in 2020.

Secondly, Begg is in amazing condition. It’s not hard to see why she is one half of the new women’s athletic development programme conveners at Canberra Olympic this season. Fitness-wise she has lost nothing since she last played in the W-League in 2016, and there were times where her speed made her look as if she were playing the game at an entirely different pace compared to everyone else. Begg covered an amazing amount of ground, sprinting into the Gungahlin box either with ball at feet, or chasing through balls, on at least half a dozen occasions throughout the game.

Thirdly, that Gungahlin understanding mentioned above. There were triangles galore, and a significant futsal influence allowed them to operate comfortably in tight spaces. Gungahlin also displayed lots of movement into space and creativity in the middle of the park, as well as noteworthy cycling of players, with forwards happy to drop back as far as the backline in implicit encouragement of their midfielders and defenders coming forward. It’s great to watch, but some of these qualities naturally became less prevalent as the players tired in the second half.

Gungahlin’s new midfield dynamic was integral to their ethic of movement, triangles, give-and-goes, and creativity. De Marco has arguably the greatest vision and distribution nous of the three in her central role; she and right winger Erika Pennyfield worked extremely well together. Miro’s impressive first outing showcased her cleverness and ability to spark offensive plays, and Lejins – also comfortable in her short passing game – has an impressive motor and seemed to revel in her midfield role and new team-mates.

Olympic came out firing in the second half, working hard for each other in the pursuit of their first goal. To their credit they did not let up with their ambitions even when they fell behind by first one goal and then a second. This again speaks to the off-season work on culture and mentoring that has occurred behind the scenes at Olympic since the end of last season. The 2019 edition of Canberra Olympic would not have been as stoic in the face of these setbacks.

After sustained second half pressure from Olympic, Gungahlin’s Elke Aitolu stepped up to a free kick in the 57th minute, and in a stunning strike from a good 30 metres – the like  seen from her on several occasions in 2019 – surprised Olympic keeper Angelica Pahina for the first goal of the game.

Just six minutes later, Pennyfield initiated a one-two movement with Aitolu in the centre of the park, running onto the return ball and chipping Pahina exquisitely for the Gunners’ second goal.

Had Olympic’s Begg managed to put away one or two of her several opportunities, the game may have had a different look to it. Gunners keeper Kailey Tonini must take a lot of credit for preventing those chances, positioning herself time and again perfectly to block Begg’s attempts. Coach Diego Iglesias revealed to Beyond 90 in their season preview that Bernardo Zamora has been added to the women’s programme as a goalkeeping coach, so kudos to him and the club for this initiative. 

Despite the loss there are good signs for this Canberra Olympic outfit, with off-season efforts bearing visible fruit today with respect to values, discipline, and working for one another. The prospect of Ash Sykes joining them in the near future is a mouth watering one for fans of the NPLW1 competition in Canberra.

It says something about how far Olympic have come since 2019 and their 2020 ambitions that coach Andrew Woodman was in general disappointed with his team’s performance.

“We have definitely made progress from where we were last year, but the result and the first half performance in particular were not a reflection of what we are capable of. We were hoping to hit our straps from the start better today.

From how we wanted to play we probably didn’t deserve to win, but if one or two of those chances had gone in, it’s a whole new ball game”.

He had praise for his centre back pairing of Hemmings and Rudd, stating that their willingness to contest 50/50 balls was needed right across the park, especially in the first stanza.

Regarding Nicole Begg’s extraordinary efforts: “Nicole’s such a work horse and a fantastic football athlete. It can be pretty brutal in those games when you are putting in that amount of work. She did have a few chances but is really disappointed she didn’t put some of those chances away, as she’s such a competitor”.

Gungahlin coach Diego Iglesias remarked after the game that a strong Canberra Olympic can only be a good thing for the competition as whole, and had praise for Woodman’s off-season efforts with the Olympic squad.

With respect to his own team’s performance, Iglesias had praise for Kailey Tonini in goals (“she gets better and better”) and was happy with his new midfield combination.

“The girls worked hard today in controlling the midfield without trying to be too clever. It’s very early days but it’s a good sign. And I know that Elke [Aitolu] can roll down into midfield and there’s a few rotations we can complete during the game, even when Erika [Pennyfield] comes into the middle and Stefi rolls out for a rest; that’s what we’re trying to get: a group of girls who are comfortable in playing in midfield.”

Iglesias agreed that the futsal skills of some of his players assists with rotations and positioning, but that it has to translate into the larger field. Regarding rotations, with even his forward line dropping into the backline to cover as required: “We do work on that a lot – doing not just your own job, but knowing how to do other jobs on the park… and that makes life hard for the other team as we’re asking them to make decisions. You can pop up anywhere on a footy field at any given point in time, so you’ve got to be able to adjust and do more than just one role.”

On this first performance, what are we to make of the 2020 version of the Gunners ? After a run of wins in the first half of season 2019, which coincided with the addition of Aitolu into the team, their fortunes dipped a little midway alongside the loss of Alex Paterson’s powerhouse right wing overlapping efforts, and then again later in the season when Nat De Marco departed along with her almost telepathic understanding with sister Stella in the centre of midfield. The addition of Lejins and Miro in 2020 would seem to have rejuvenated their midfield on this showing. Today’s captain Maddie Perceval and centre back partner Dhiaan Sidhu also maintain key roles in providing defensive starch to proceedings. Gungahlin also have retained the attacking prowess provided by Aitolu, plus wide players Ella-Rose Brown and Erika Pennyfield.

The Gungahlin squad retains a look of balance and depth (being able to draw on the likes of 2019 regulars Paterson and Rathouski from the bench in this game), and Iglesias has the team playing in an attractive style. As a young side it will be interesting to see matchups against older, more physical opponents in 2020.

Final score:

Gungahlin United 2 (Aitolu 57′, Pennyfield 63′)

Canberra Olympic 0

Teams:

Gungahlin United – Coach: Diego Iglesias

Kailey Tonini, Brigitte Sander, Dhiaan Sidhu, Maddie Perceval (c), Ayla Robertson, Stefi Lejins, Stella De Marco, Tianah Miro, Ella-Rose Brown, Elke Aitolu, Erika Pennyfield 
Subs: Niamh Larkin, Sophie Spice, Alex Paterson (51′ => Brown), Anna Wilkinson (67′ => Aitolu), Maria Rathouski (79′ => Robertson)

Yellow/Red cards: Nil

Canberra Olympic – Coach: Andrew Woodman

Angelica Pahina, Victoria Jamieson (c), Ella Hemmings, Alexandra Cook, Chloe Rudd, Nicole Begg, Sienna Farrar, Liz Burdett, Emma Guo, Kellie Brown, Eleanor Jones
Subs:  Emma Finch (56′ => Brown), Lily Dawson (59′ => Guo), Emma Croker (73′ => Burdett), Eleni Haridemos, Emily Hoffman (83′ => Jones)

Yellow/Red cards: Nil

Around The Grounds:

Belconnen United 9 – 0 Monaro Panthers

Tuggeranong United 1 – 3 Canberra United Academy

Woden-Weston 0 – 1 Canberra Croatia FC

Wagga City – bye

Round 2 fixtures can be viewed here.

Ladder:

Follow all our ACT NPLW coverage here.