Clare Polkinghorne celebrated her decade with Brisbane Roar in the best way possible, guiding her side to a 4-1 win over Canberra United in the Westfield W-League on Friday afternoon.
The Westfield Matildas stalwart has been pivotal to Brisbane’s dominance in the competition, part of their squads that won the 2012/13 and 2017/18 Premierships, and the Queensland Roar squad that won the inaugural Westfield W-League 2008/09 Premiership.
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Goals to Hayley Raso and Celeste Boureille in the first half put Brisbane in a positive position, before Canberra pulled one back via Nikki Flannery in the second half.
However, the fightback was short-lived, after Yuki Nagasto scored an absolute cracker from outside the box, followed by Allira Toby’s fifth goal of the Westfield W-league 2018/19 Season.
While Polkinghorne might not have gotten on the score sheet, she still had a game to remember, typifying her contribution to Brisbane Roar over the years.
The Roar captain attempted 60 passes, completing 75% of those, and won 80% of her tackles. Amazingly, Polkinghorne won 100% of her duels, displaying the sort of aerial dominance that will put Brisbane and the Westfield Matildas in good stead in the near future.
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There’s no time to rest on her laurels, though, with Polkinghorne’s Brisbane focussed solely on their final fixture of the Westfield W-League.
They travel to Adelaide knowing that three points, along with capitulations by Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory, will see them seal their second consecutive Premiership.
Should they fail to do so, a top-two finish will reward them with a home Semi-Final and a real shot at featuring in the Grand Final come February 17.
