The Westfield W-League lived up to it its tagline of ‘football with style’ at QSAC Stadium in Brisbane on Saturday when the Queensland Roar recorded an emphatic 4-1 victory over Adelaide United in a free-flowing contest.
835 fans were on hand to see Lana Harch open the scoring for the Roar in the 22nd minute with an impressive strike from outside the box, only for it to be cancelled out by a curling corner from Adelaide’s Sharon Black right on the eve of half time.
United came out firing in the second half but their spirits were soon sunk when the Roar belted home three goals in under ten minutes.
Lauren Colthorpe broke the deadlock for the home side in the 58th minute with a classy header after a good cross from Clare Polkinghorne.
Alicia Ferguson made it 3-1 six minutes later when she found the back of the net after making perfect connection with a free kick outside the box.
The flood gates were then well and truly open soon after when Harch grabbed her brace with a smooth collect and volley in the box.
Roar coach Jeff Hopinks was relatively pleased with the performance but saw room for improvement.
“What we were after was a win, I don’ think as a group we are really 100 per cent happy with the way we played,” Hopkins said.
“There were a couple of things like the goal we gave away, also we most probably weren’t as fluent as we should have been.”
The home side started the match impressively, with a number of surges forward ensuring Adelaide keeper Kristi Harvey had her hands full early on.
Right from the word go Harch, Ferguson, Jenna Tristram and Tameka Butt looked dangerous going forward for the Roar, with a flurry in Adelaide’s box during the second minute almost resulting in a goal for the home side.
It wasn’t long before Harch had opened the scoring for the Roar with a spectacular solo-effort.
After beating a would-be tackler, Harch stopped and propped outside the box and poked the ball past an outstretched Harvey and into the top left corner.
The Roar continued to dominate possession but Adelaide found the equaliser in the last play of the first half.
With United’s first corner of the game, Black delivered the ball tightly next to the goal-line and Roar custodian Casey Dumont was unable to make solid connection, deflecting the ball back into the goal.
Buoyed by their strong finish to the first half, the visitors looked impressive early in the second but it was not long before the Roar had taken the game by the scruff of the neck and ensured they would claim all three points.
Queensland is home again next week when they host Canberra United at Perry Park while Adelaide will be looking to get their season back on track when they lock horns with the Newcastle Jets at Hindmarsh Stadium.
Match Details
Queensland Roar 4 (Lana Harch 22′ & 66′, Lauren Colthorpe 58′, Alicia Ferguson 64′ )
Adelaide United 1 (Sharon Black 46′)
QSAC Stadium, Brisbane
Crowd: 835
Friday 25 October 2008
Referee: Kirralee Gardener
Queensland Roar line-up: 1.Casey DUMONT (gk), 2.Kate McSHEA (c), 3.Karla REUTER, 4.Clare POLKINGHORNE, 5.Brooke SPENCE (19. Ellen BEAUMONT 73-), 6.Jenna TRISTRAM (11.Ruth BLACKBURN 73-), 7.Kim CARROLL, 9.Alicia FERGUSON, 10.Lana HARCH, 13.Tameka BUTT, 16.Lauren COLTHORPE (17.Tashina ROMA 84-)
Substitutes not used: 20.Lara BOON (gk)
Yellow cards: Lauren Colthorpe 16-, Karla Reuter 52-
Red Cards: Nil
Adelaide United line-up: 30.Kristi HARVEY (gk) (20.Sian McLAREN (gk) 71-), 2.Renee HARRISON, 3.Sarah AMORIM, 4.Dianne ALAGICH (c), 5.Angela FIMMANO (8.Sandra SCALZI 68-), 6.Kristyn SWAFFER, 7.Rachael QUIGLEY, 9.Stephanie TOKICH, 10.Victoria BALOMENOS, 11.Sharon BLACK (12.Tanya HARRISON 81-), 15.Lauren CHILVERS
Substitutes not used: 14.Donna COCKAYNE
Yellow cards: Victoria Balomenos 5-, Renee Harrison 43-
Red Cards: Nil
