Victory getting thumped and Sydney FC being held showed what an arm wrestle the competition is, writes Angela Christian-Wilkes
Perhaps it’s the imminence of 2022’s arrival, but already it feels like New Year’s resolutions are in play.
In Round 4 a number of Liberty A-League teams showed off fresh resolve, Melbourne City’s Hannah Wilkinson steamrollered Victory – and there were more debut goals for Newcastle Jets’ Jemma House, Canberra’s Holly Caspers, and Melbourne Victory’s Maja Markovski.
The festivities opened with a match-up between last year’s semi-finalists, Brisbane Roar and Canberra United. Following rocky starts, both came into the game without a point to their name following rocky starts, sitting next to each other on the bottom of the ladder.
Anticipated Canberra signing Allira Toby made an immediate impact in her first appearance, serving Michelle Heyman with an assist on a platter within ten minutes. However, a headstrong Roar got themselves a 3-1 lead with goals that suggested they had Uno Reverse-d the bad luck vibes of their previous games back onto Canberra.
The equaliser was attributed as an own goal when keeper Keeley Richards swung and missed at a backpass from Karly Roestbakken, put under pressure by Anna Margraf. It was also Margraf’s shot that Richards saved, the ball ambling into the path of a hungry Shea Connors who tapped it in for the lead. After the break, it was Margraf – again – who had a crack off a corner, the ball deflecting into the net in a similar fashion to the heartbreaking goal Perth scored against Roar in Round 2.
To continue the Uno analogy (sorry), Canberra had their own reverse card. Grace Maher whipped it out of her pocket in the 87th minute, sending in a free kick banger from afar. In stoppage time she then turned Barrie Clough on the goal-line and sliced the ball in for Holly Caspers to score her debut ALW goal, making it 3-3.
The comeback shows a level of resilience not yet seen from Canberra. For Roar it leaves the question of how they can see out games without losing focus. A point for both sees them rise above Wellington Phoenix, who went down to Newcastle Jets on Monday afternoon.
The 1-0 win for the Jets makes it two from two against Wellington, however the score line alone indicates it was wholly different to the 5-1 drubbing they administered a fortnight ago.
The Nix’ focused high-intensity energy in a focussed manner and broke apart Jets’ ability to create. While Jets got more of a foot-hold after the break, it seemed that the Nix were going to secure a draw. A disciplined defence left the likes of Emily Van Egmond and Elizabeth Eddy to take hopeful shots from distance, with Nix’ captain and keeper Lily Alfeld putting in a composed performance. In the end, the decider came after Alfeld deflected an incredible shot onto the crossbar. The ball fell at an awkward angle, with Jemma House bundling it home.
The improvement seen from Wellington was remarkable, yet the scoreline was understated. As Lewis said postgame, ““That game was like chalk and cheese for us. We were competitive in this game. We were struggling to even be competitive the last time we played them.”
The 5-1 scoreline and performance seen from City at the second Melbourne derby was anything but understated.
The gaps in Victory’s defensive personnel became a San Andreas faultline-esque split this time, with coach Jeff Hopkins noting of the loss that “maybe it had been coming for a few weeks. We had got away with a few things so it’s now a time for us to be honest with ourselves, take stock of where we are.”
Melbourne City were in the lucky position of fielding the same starting 11 for the third game in a row and sustained the momentum they’ve been building since season open. They exploited Victory’s vulnerability – no one more so than Hannah Wilkinson. Within five minutes, the striker had coolly slipped the ball around Casey Dumont, following with two more to make it a 26-minute hattrick.
While out-ratioing the opposition’s goals has won Victory games, they haven’t been on the receiving end of an early barrage. Visibly shaken, they spent much of the first half clumsily turning over the ball and rushing play. The second half started better – but not before they conceded two more. A moment of respite for Victory came when Maja Markovski scored her debut ALW goal in the 84th minute.
Wilkinson’s Boxing Day haul of five goals equals Kate Gill’s record for most goals in a game and sends her to the top of the charts; her 7 goals total trailed by Catherine Zimmerman’s and Remy Siemsen’s 3. The New Zealand striker took a little time to warm into the league and the team, netting her first last week, but this win shows she has finally finessed her finishing. Granted, some of the goals started from Victory mistakes, but it was Wilkinson’s slick shots and her teammates’ intensity that used this error-prone environment to their advantage.
Although not as a bombastic a result on paper, Sydney FC’s 0-0 feisty draw with Western Sydney Wanderers’ was a surprising finish to the round. While Wanderers are still struggling to produce attacking opportunities, their defensive performance was much improved on previous rounds, particularly notable given the sustained peppering on goals from Sydney.
Both Victory and Sydney came into the competition as frontrunners, yet both dropping points against improved opposition suggest anything could happen. As the season passes the third-way mark, there’s still little sign yet of the wheat separating from the chaff, the finalists from the rest.
