In the penultimate round of the regular season, clubs were running out of time and wiggle room to leave their mark on the 2020 competition. 

Round 8 games that were held this week included:

Canberra United Academy vs Monaro Panthers (Beyond 90’s match of the round)
Belconnen United vs Canberra Olympic
Canberra Croatia vs Tuggeranong United
Gungahlin United vs Wagga City

Match of the Round: Canberra United Academy vs Monaro Panthers

Two forced Monaro Panthers substitutions in the first fifteen minutes of the game – including captain Rachel Hardwicke – put paid to any game plans Panthers coach Paul Townsley may have had in this Round 8 game. Together with real attacking intent from the Academy team after their bye round (perhaps having new Canberra United coach Vicki Linton looking on from the bench for the first time had something to do with this), Academy proved to be irresistible, scoring five goals in the first stanza and another four in the second as they racked up a 9-0 victory.

Their respective playing strips may be characterised by their different shades of green, but with disappointing seasons for both NPLW1 teams to date, the teams could be forgiven for mistaking a vibrant, lush shade of green on their jerseys for the type of green that has the unwelcome capacity to sometimes leave you feeling less than perfect.

Early in the season a new look Academy forward line spearheaded by Anna Hunt, plus a spine behind her consisting of prodigiously talented Sasha Grove, 2019’s equal leading goalscorer and Canberra United debutante Hayley Taylor-Young, and defensive leader Annie Grove, promised to be an effective development platform for the players around them. Results to date have shown that the team’s ‘Goals For’ column in the table is lower than in the last few years, but this can partly be attributed to Taylor-Young’s early season new role, as well as the competition standard lifting in 2020.

Coming into the round, the Academy were listed as sixth on the ladder, with the 2-2 draw against Woden-Weston in Round 3 (when they were two goals up) partly responsible for keeping them out of the top four. An injury to Hunt around that time led to Taylor-Young resuming her more familiar attacking role in the last month, but to date she and Sasha Grove have been slow to rekindle their attacking understanding from seasons gone by, even while results since then have generally followed a pattern expected of the team.

Academy’s perilous position on the ladder meant they were only mathematical chances of playing finals in 2020, with the final round matchup against reigning premiers Belconnen United looming as the elephant in the room.

As the only team to not yet have a bye, and seated at the foot of the ladder, this Round 8 game was to be the last of the Monaro Panthers’ season. Starting and ending the season with 9-0 losses tells the story of the Panthers this season, who have never in their history beaten Canberra United Academy.

The Academy began with a bang. In the second minute, Sasha Grove received the ball just past the centre circle and sprinted unchallenged into the penalty box. Monaro keeper Jelena Josipovic – who would acquit herself well in the game despite the scoreline – had no chance against Grove’s low bullet-like shot for the first goal.  

If the Panthers side had trouble adjusting to their new 3-5-2 formation, they did not have long to wait – just a quarter hour – before reverting to a back four. Liz Edwards had to be helped off the field inside five minutes after a collision with Academy winger Sofia Christopherson, and captain Hardwicke was also substituted before the 15 minute mark after seemingly feeling poorly; she was later seen on the bench with ice on her head.

The Panthers have debuted a number of new first grade players this season, and the sight of Academy attacking threats Anna Hunt, Grove, and Taylor-Young coming at them at speed on the back of sharp passing moves would have been quite the learning experience.

Anna Hunt had the first two of her four goals in the back of the Panthers net before the drinks break in the 23rd minute. The first was a low drive from an attempted punched clearance off a corner kick, and the second was a deflected effort from almost the same position.

The Panthers frailty in dealing with corners was exposed again just after half an hour. An untended Sasha Grove matched Hunt’s double by smashing a goal at close range into the roof of the net as the ball fell to her.

Academy forward Christopherson showed excellent perseverance in scoring her first goal of the season in the 37th minute. She bounced off a defender and recovered for a second effort in the Panthers box, toeing a shot into Compton where it deflected into the goal.

A highlight at the end of the first half was Annie Grove in full flight, running with ball at feet from deep in the Academy defence right into the Panthers penalty area, but the quality of the shot – straight to Josipovic – didn’t quite match the quality of the run.

For those in the crowd, it was cool to see Linton passing on tips to Sasha Grove during the half-time break.

They may have been five goals to the good at half time but the Academy side did not let up their attacking intensity in the second half. An outpouring of goodwill greeted a relieved Taylor-Young’s first goal of the season, as she finished off Christopherson’s superb pass at the back post two minutes after the restart.       

Hunt picked up her third goal just four minutes later, guiding Taylor-Young’s well directed pass near the penalty spot past Josipovic and into the net for 7-0.

Goal number eight – and Hunt’s fourth – arrived on 74 minutes and was the pick of her finishes in this game. Timing her run perfectly on a Sasha Grove through ball, Hunt fired the ball past the onrushing Josipovic and was rewarded with the ball careering into the goal off the inside of the left post.

The final goal of the game – and Academy’s ninth – completed the scoring for the afternoon, with Sasha Grove spotting Josipovic off her line and chipping her from distance into the top right corner of the Panthers goal.

Canberra United Academy are likely to finish off their season next week, and unfortunately their fate is not in their hands. Not even a win against Belconnen United will see them into the finals unless Tuggeranong United can find a way to defeat Canberra Olympic. They will perhaps be lamenting the fact that the intensity they showed today was not more consistently on show during the season to date.

The 2020 season has proven to be a difficult one for Townsley and team, but they will be heartened by having players in the squad that they can continue to build a side around in 2021 (Hardwicke and Compton for example). The Panthers have depended far too much on Hardwicke’s shooting quality for goals, and have struggled to be effective in their front third this year. Monaro have also handed valuable NPLW1 time on the park to several debut players, and it was pleasing to see the character of players such as Heather Brayshaw, Josipovic in goals, and Tayla Zanotto continuing to do their best for their side in the face of some lopsided scorelines.

Even with one game to go in the regular season, one semi-final fixture has already been determined, that between Belconnen United and Gungahlin United. The other semi-final is almost guaranteed to be between Canberra Olympic and Canberra Croatia, unless Tuggeranong are able to upset Olympic and Academy beat Belconnen.

Gungahlin United have the chance to leapfrog Belconnen United into second place on the ladder if they can overcome them next week.

Final score:

Canberra United Academy 9 (S. Grove 2’ 33’ 75’, Hunt 19’ 22’ 50’ 74’, Christopherson 37’, Taylor-Young 46’)

Monaro Panthers 0

Teams:

Canberra United Academy – Coach: Scott O’Donell

Aurelia Haynes, Daisy Canavan, Annaliese Grove, Tayla Hampson, Alyse Jensen, Tara Cannon, Meg Roden, Sasha Grove, Sofia Christopherson, Anna Hunt, Hayley Taylor-Young (c)
Subs: Jaya Bowman (75′ => Cannon), Nikita Perry (78′ => A. Grove), Ellie Summers, Nadia Zakman (78′ => Hunt)

Yellow cards: Nil

Monaro Panthers – Coach: Paul Townsley

Jelena Josipovic, Heather Brayshaw, Thembi Compton, Riley Whitely, Brooke Jones, Georgia Grant, Rachael Hardwicke (c), Isabella Wallace, Liz Edwards, Tayla Zanotto, Paula Plamio
Subs: Ebony Ahern (86′ => Guglielmin), Kassie Guglielmin (4′ => Edwards), Janet King (14′ => Hardwicke), Elizabeth Marchant (54′ => Plamio), Tayla Wilson (72′ => Jones)

Yellow cards: Nil

Around The Grounds:

Belconnen United 2 vs 1 Canberra Olympic
Canberra Croatia 4-0 Tuggeranong United
Gungahlin United 3-1 Wagga City
Woden-Weston FC – bye

Round 9 fixtures can be viewed here.

Ladder:

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