Hat-trick hero Hannah Keane officially scored the second-fastest goal in Liberty A-League history, finding the back of the net 14 seconds after the referee’s whistle as Western United defeated Canberra United 4-2.
Flexing their muscles from the off, Western flew forward and forced the first goal of the game in just 14 seconds as Hannah Keane let fly from the edge of the area – however her shot crossed the line just ONE SECOND short of the A-League women’s record set by Kate Gill back at the start of the 2013-14 season.
It was 2-0 after just 10 minutes as Chloe Logarzo fired home from the spot before the Matildas midfielder then turned provider, teeing up Keane to head home Western’s third before half-time.
Canberra hit back early in the second half with a rocket from Deven Jackson but Keane completed her hat-trick in style in the 67th minute, drilling home an effort from the edge of the box to make it 4-1.
Michelle Heyman scored a pearler with the final kick off the game in the 95th minute but it wasn’t enough to prevent Western from moving four points clear at the top of the ladder.
Any latecomers to this contest will have almost certainly missed the game’s opening goal which came just 14 seconds after the referee blew for kickoff.
A Western ball into the Canberra half was soon regained by Hannah Keane who, sensing a nervousness amongst the opposition, drove towards the edge of the box before lashing a left footed effort into the far corner to make it 1-0 in under 15 seconds.
Not content with landing that early blow the home side soon made it 2-0 as Keane was fouled inside the box by Canberra defender Ava Piazza and Chloe Logarzo promptly fired the ball home from the spot.
The game was then all but over after just 14 minutes. Scrapping for the ball down Western’s right, Logarzo won her duel with Canberra’s Deven Jackson before playing a stunning, deep delivery into the box which was headed past keeper Coco Majstorovic by Hannah Keane to make it 3-0.
Keane then had two glorious opportunities to wrap up her hat-trick in the first half but on both occasions she was denied by Majstorovic when put through one-on-one.
Desperate to find a way back into the game, Canberra brought both Matilda Michelle Heyman and star midfielder Vesna Milivojevic off the bench for the second half and the away side soon found the back of the net.
Picking up the ball on the left, forward Ruby Nathan cut inside before laying it off to midfielder Deven Jackson who, after taking a touch, promptly unleashed a fierce effort which flew beyond Kathrine Larsen and into the net.
Western should have then restored their three-goal cushion in the 60th minute but unfortunately for Chloe Logarzo, the midfielder somehow blazed her shot over the bar from two metres out despite having a completely empty net in front of her and no goalkeeper to contend with.
Teammate Hannah Keane soon spared her blushes though, completing her hat-trick in the 67th minute. Played onside by Nikki Flannery, Keane controlled a pinpoint pass from Grace Maher and having split the two Canberra centre halves, promptly buried a left footed effort across the keeper and into the far corner to make it 4-1.
In another big boost for Kat Smith’s side, American forward Catherine Zimmerman came on for her club debut after finally recovering from a stress fracture in her foot and while Michelle Heyman did curl home a beauty late in stoppage time, Western United cruised to a 4-2 win at City Vista Recreation Reserve to move four points clear at the top of the ladder.
