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

Round 7 marks the one-third point of season 2021, and Beyond 90 travelled to Deakin Stadium to see if Michelle Heyman would make her first appearance for Gungahlin United – a team that is still finding its feet this season – against current champions Canberra Croatia.

Other Round 7 games that were held this weekend included:

Belconnen United vs West Canberra
Wagga City vs Canberra United Academy
Tuggeranong United vs Canberra Olympic

Match of the Round: Canberra Croatia vs Gungahlin United

Spectators arriving early to Deakin Stadium and seeing Michelle Heyman doing laps before the game would have been hopeful of seeing her start. As the teams lined up, however, neither she nor the injured Grace Gill had their shinpads and boots on. It soon became apparent that there would be only one player out there with W-League experience – Canberra Croatia’s Chantel Jones – but even Jones was to be on the bench at the start of the game. Jones would prove to the game-breaker in this even contest.  

Canberra Croatia’s season had been building nicely to this point with five wins and a draw, part of a remarkable 18 game unbeaten run stretching back to last season. Lara Agnew returned to the starting side at right back for this fixture, with regular attacking midfielder Jamie Berkeley joining Brittany Palombi and Olivia Fogarty in the front third.

For their part, the Gunners had suffered a few narrow losses in recent weeks against Canberra United Academy and West Canberra after an encouraging start to the season. Coach Diego Iglesias has been adapting his side to matchup against specific opponents as well as trying a couple of players in different positions. While the tweaks have often been successful – for example, Erika Pennyfield’s engine and intensity in midfield, and Ella-Rose Brown as a wingback – at times the balance within the squad may have been affected, and fans are yet to see the sustained and fluent short passing game that we have come to expect from Gungahlin. Coming into this game they sit in fourth place with three wins and three losses.

As the game kicked off we saw the versatile Stefi Lejins line up at right back – hearkening back to her Academy days – with Pennyfield in a wide midfield role, and the De Marco sisters also bringing back memories as the midfield spine.

The first half saw glimpses of the Gunners’ short passing game, but as a unit they were content to play deep, leaving Elke Aitolu stranded at times up top. CCFC were content to play with patience, and while the majority of the half was played in Gunners territory, the battles were being fought more in midfield than in the Gunners defensive line. Jade Brown in particular was battling well against the experienced Canberra Croatia midfield.

The intensity started to lift near the half-hour mark. Gungahlin midfielder Rachael Corbett went off the field for a short time recovering from a ball to the face, and a minute later keeper Kailey Tonini spectacularly deflected Berkeley’s rocket of a shot over the Gungahlin crossbar. A goalmouth melee ensued from the resulting corner as the referee spotted a Gungahlin handball in the penalty box. Brittany Palombi stepped up and made no mistake with the spot-kick, giving the home side the lead.

Ten minutes later, Gunners dead ball specialist Aitolu prepared to take a free kick 25 yards out at an angle from Ally Hinson in the Canberra Croatia goal. Aitolu struck with venom right at Hinson with the ball bouncing in front of her, which proved too much to contain with Gunners forwards bearing down on her. One hundred gamer Nat De Marco was on hand to celebrate her own personal milestone in the best possible way, tucking away the chance to level the scores five minutes from halftime.

With two minutes left in the half, Fogarty on the left wing centred a ball near the Gungahlin penalty spot, with Palombi’s volley sailing just wide of the post.

The home side started the second half with ten minutes of sustained pressure, which was broken by a sublime Gunners passing move down their left flank. Aitolu started the move with a left-sided through ball for Brigitte Sander. Breaking free with the ball, Sander found Aitolu again, who played a neat one-two with Pennyfield, and then sent a dangerous low ball across the six yard box, with two onrushing Gunners attackers just failing to connect with it. This was vintage Gungahlin at their best.

Substitutions started just after the hour mark as Nat De Marco was replaced for Gungahlin by Ella-Rose Brown, who moved into right wing. Shortly thereafter, Canberra Croatia coach Nik Brozinic brought on Jones for Fogarty in their attacking line.

With 15 minutes to go, Ella-Rose Brown’s free kick from the right at distance came perilously close to Hinson’s back post and Brown’s fellow attackers. Just moments later, Corbett found herself booked after clattering into Bisset.

Gungahlin right back Lejins came into her own in the last quarter of the game, finding the will to make several dangerous runs down the wing and reinvigorating her side as they toiled for a winner. In the face of this Gungahlin pressure, it was perhaps a cruel twist of fate that with nine minutes left Jones received the ball six yards out and threaded the winning goal; a goal correctly awarded by the referee despite the assistant flagging for offside and Gunner protestations, as Hagen’s shot had ricocheted off a defender before finding Jones.

And so the home side took the spoils 2-1 in a game that saw them with the majority of possession but lacking some attacking potency without Gill directing traffic from her number 10 position. The result sees Canberra Croatia back at the top of the ladder after the Blue Devils’ draw with West Canberra.

Iglesias will be disappointed that his side had nothing to show for their efforts, but will have seen plenty of good signs in a second half performance that bodes well for their next outing, perhaps laying a platform for the next part of their season.

Final score:

Canberra Croatia 2 (Palombi 29′, Jones 80′)

Gungahlin United 1 (N. De Marco 40′)

Teams:

Canberra Croatia – Coach: Nik Brozinic

Ally Hinson, Alice Churchill (c), Rhiannon Fensom, Cecilija Matic, Lara Agnew, Jenny Bisset, Krista Hagen, Bella Barac, Olivia Fogarty, Jamie Berkeley, Brittany Palombi

Subs: Sharon Chao (80′ => Barac), Chantel Jones (64′ => Fogarty) , Mia Pratezina, Dianne Wilson

Yellow/Red cards: Nil

Gungahlin United – Coach: Diego Iglesias

Kailey Tonini, Brigitte Sander, Ruby Gambale, Madeleine Perceval (c), Stefi Lejins, Jade Brown, Rachael Corbett, Stella De Marco, Erika Pennyfield, Nat De Marco, Elke Aitolu

Subs: Ella-Rose Brown (62′ => N. De Marco), Courtney McCann, Ayla Robertson (73′ => J. Brown), Anna Wilkinson (87′ => Sander), Emily Davidson

Yellow/Red cards: Nil

Around The Grounds:

Belconnen United 1 – 1 West Canberra Wanderers
Wagga City Wanderers 2 – 6 Canberra United Academy
Tuggeranong United 0 – 4 Canberra Olympic

Ladder:

Next week:

Wagga City vs Belconnen United, Gissing Oval, Sunday 30 May, 2:30pm
Canberra Olympic vs West Canberra, O’Connor Enclosed, Sunday 30 May, 2:30pm
Canberra United Academy vs Canberra Croatia, Hawker Enclosed, Sunday 30 May, 3:00pm
Tuggeranong United vs Gungahlin United, Kambah 201, Sunday 30 May, 3:10pm

 
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