Brisbane has continued its dominance of the Westfield W-League with a 2-1 win over Canberra United at McKellar Park on Saturday.
The grand final rematch saw both sides looking to go one up early and Brisbane delivered in the sixth minute with Joanne Burgess sending a high kick over Lydia Williams into goal giving it a much sought after mental advantage.
Canberra’s Ashleigh Sykes came close to levelling the scores in the 10th minute, making a break up the centre only to be denied by Casey Dumont. United failed to capitalise on another opportunity in the 13th minute with a free kick from Grace Gill unable to be backed up in the box.
United’s Cian Maciejewski and Ashleigh Sykes were a strong duo in attack, making some clean breaks toward the box but again Casey Dumont was too quick when the ball was sent to goal.
Brisbane remained one up into the 20th minute, however United did well to keep the ball at its end and create some goal scoring opportunities.
Canberra kept the lion’s share of possession into the 27th minute with United-s Bronwyn Studman and Maciejewski making some great tackles to rebuff Brisbane’s attack.
United was unable to wrangle possession toward the end of the second half with Brisbane making some potentially dangerous breaks for goal which were bravely deflected by Williams.
An ankle injury suffered by Ellie Brush during last week’s clash against Central Coast didn’t stop her from making a goal-saving tackle on Ellen Beaumont in the 41st minute.
Ashleigh Sykes was determined to level the scores before the end of the first half, pushing the ball up the centre before her strike was deflected downwards by Dumont. Shu O Tseng was quick to back Sykes up but Dumont was far too quick, snatching the ball into the safety of her gloves before O Tseng could get a boot to it.
Action was a plenty in the second half with both sides looking to dominate.
A breakthrough came for United in the 58th minute after O Tseng hassled Brisbane’s Kate McShea. The tackle saw the ball dribble onto Cian Maciejewski who was waiting in the wings ready to send the ball flying into goal.
But Brisbane was determined to ensure the deadlock was short-lived and its wish was granted in the 74th minute when Elise Kellond-Knight sent a sweet high kick over the heads of the Canberra girls who could only watch helplessly as the ball sailed into goal.
A free kick from Ellie Brush in the 79th minute came close, as did her header toward goal in the 87th minute, giving her team a very brief glimpse at finishing the game in yet another draw.
But it was not to be with Brisbane dominating play and taking out the match two goals to one.
Brisbane Roar coach Jeff Hopkins said despite the win he was slightly disappointed with the way the girls played.
“I think looking back at the game the draw would have been a fair result,” he said.
“But it’s the quality and the character of our team that gets us through when things get tough.”
Canberra United coach Ray Junna said he was happy with his team’s performance.
“We have four more games and we’ll keep on trying,” he said.
“The finals are not our of our grasp.”
Canberra 1 (Maciejewski 58′)
Brisbane 2 (Burgess 6′, Kellond-Knight 74′)
