Michelle Heyman scored the 99th goal of her Liberty A-League career to rescue Canberra United a point in an entertaining 1-1 draw with Sydney FC on Wednesday night.
Heyman’s first-half strike cancelled out Aideen Keane’s maiden league goal for the Sky Blues; the Canberra equaliser brought Heyman to within one of an historic century of Liberty A-League goals, but the Matildas and A-Leagues legend was unable to add to her tally at Leichhardt Oval, and will have to wait another week to try and reach that unprecedented milestone.
The result extended last-placed Canberra’s unbeaten streak to two games on a frustrating night for Sydney; the Sky Blues have now drawn three of their last four games as Ante Juric’s side continue to make up incremental ground on the teams leading the charge toward the finals.
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Canberra were struck by an early injury to Emma Ilijoski, whose right ankle rolled in the process of an attempted interception just minutes into the contest. Ilijoski was substituted in the eighth minute, and replaced by Ruby Nathan.
The visitors then set off in search of the opening goal, as Vesna Milivojevic’s 16th-minute shot deflected off the leg of Sydney defender Charlotte Mclean and out for a corner.
But just six minutes later, it was the hosts who took the lead, with Aideen Keane bagging her first league goal for the Sky Blues.
The attacking move was sparked by a hefty Shay Hollman challenge in midfield, who turned over possession and set Mackenze Hawkesby free; Hawkesby drove toward goal and played a well-weighted ball behind Canberra’s defence for Keane to finish with a sweetly-struck effort off her left foot.
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Sydney’s lead would last just 10 minutes, as Heyman popped up in the box to meet Nickoletta Flannery’s perfect delivery off the right wing and sweep it home with a first-time finish.
The goal was Heyman’s 99th in the Liberty A-League, drawing the Matildas and Canberra great to within one goal of the century mark.
A minor calf strain to Cortnee Vine meant Abbey Lemon came into the Sydney starting XI to replace the Matildas star on the right wing, and just before half-time Lemon had the chance to break the deadlock, but from close range and a tight angle struck directly into the arms of Canberra keeper Chloe Lincoln.
Sydney’s first-half goalscorer Keane was replaced at half-time by Teigan Collister at half-time, and it brought about an interesting positional switch-up in the Sky Blues XI; Collister went to right wing, Lemon dropped to left-back and defender Kirsty Fenton went from the left side of a back four to lead the attack as Sydney’s number nine.
Just before the hour mark Fenton had a chance to put Sydney back into the lead, diving to meet a Tori Tumeth header but mistiming her leap as the ball repelled off the back of her head and away.
Canberra keeper Lincoln kept Hawkesby off the scoresheet with a remarkable save soon after – then the visitors drove down the other end to create a chance for Heyman to bag goal 100; a high cross off the right wing was gathered well by a leaping Jada Whyman in goal for the Sky Blues.
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Then came a moment of controversy as Sydney survived a major penalty scare. Deven Jackson cut through two Sky Blues on her way into the box and Taylor Ray took a firm hold of her shirt as Jackson went to ground. The contact began marginally outside the box but carried into the penalty area – and the referee waved away Canberra’s claims in what was a lucky escape for the home side.
With both sides pushing for a second goal, Heyman was presented with a glorious opportunity to provide one for Canberra when Milivojevic picked out her run down the right-hand side of the box. Heyman took the ball in her stride and sized up the target but couldn’t angle her attempt on goal, firing just wide of the bottom-left corner.
Teenage substitute Jynaya Dos Santos was the hero for Sydney last weekend, scoring a late goal against Wellington in a 1-0 victory – and she almost repeated the feat against Canberra, converting from close range after a Sky Blues corner routine. But a foul on Canberra defender Sarah Clark was picked out among the scrimmage as the referee’s whistle kept the score at 1-1.
Deep in stoppage time, centre-back Mclean almost produced a wonder-strike to snatch all three points, firing from distance toward the top-right corner and calling Lincoln into a fingertip stop.
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The talking point
Aideen Keane was Sydney FC’s goalscorer in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Canberra – but at half-time, she was withdrawn from the contest and replaced at the point of Sydney’s attack by a makeshift number nine: full-back Kirsty Fenton.
The Young Matildas star has made a name for herself as one of the most promising young defensive talents in Australian football – but was tasked with leading the line through the second half on Wednesday night.
Sydney head coach Ante Juric was delighted with her contribution post-game; despite not scoring, Fenton did have chances and used her physical prowess and speed to cause problems for the Canberra backline.
Keane suffered an ACL tear in May, 2022 while on the books at Perth Glory, and in her comeback season at the Sky Blues is being cautiously managed by her new club. Meanwhile, attacking options Cortnee Vine (calf), Shea Connors (foot) and Fiona Worts (knee) are all sidelined through injury, leading to the inventive positional change.
Juric labelled Fenton Sydney’s best performer on the night; post-game he explained the thought process behind his tactical tweak.
“Aideen (Keane) hasn’t played a lot, so her fitness died a little bit because of the pressing,” Juric said.
“Fenton, I spoke to her during the week and even before the last game and said she might go up front. She played up front as a kid, she’s excellent at training up front when we play games.
“She causes a lot of problems (and) I think she was our best player today, to be honest with you, and she’s not played up front for a while.
“That could be something for the future for us, but she for me was our best, she went and caused problems and was direct, had some shots, she was excellent.”
The star
Canberra United goalkeeper Chloe Lincoln had a night to remember at Leichhardt Oval, pulling off a string of clutch saves to deprive the Sky Blues a winner in the second half.
Lincoln added two standout moments to her career highlight reel after half-time to deny both Mackenzie Hawkesby and Charlotte Mclean.
The first block came via an outstretched right foot, as Lincoln showed quick reactions to prod a close-range Hawkesby attempt out of the danger area.
Then, in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time, defender Mclean rifled a shot from range toward the top-right corner. The ball would have rippled the net to give Mclean a rare A-Leagues goal, and Sydney all three points, if not for Lincoln’s desperate attempt to scamper across and poke the ball over the bar.
An injury setback for a Matildas star
After two consecutive starts in the Liberty A-League, Matildas star Cortnee Vine was sideline by a minor calf strain for Sydney’s clash with Canberra on Wednesday night.
Vine has played just six games this season, with a hamstring injury and a subsequent calf complaint sidelining the winger through portions of the campaign to date.
Speaking after the 1-1 draw with Canberra, Sky Blues head coach Ante Juric revealed he expected Vine to return in either next weekend’s clash with Central Coast or the subsequent game against Western United on January 14.
“Hopefully Vine was just a precautionary thing,” Juric said.
“I’m hoping she’ll be back for the weekend. But let’s see; if not, she’ll definitely be back for the weekend after.”
