The Queensland Roar have extended their lead at the top of the Westfield W-League standings, with a 3-0 win over second-placed Sydney FC at Ballymore Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Kick-off was delayed by several minutes due to a passing thunderstorm punctuated by torrential rain and wild winds.
Once the heavens had closed, it was the Roar who supplied the electricity, dominating the game from the outset.
Karla Reuter came close to opening the scoring in the eighth minute, driving a shot against the left-hand upright after ghosting in on the right hand side following a Courtney Beutel shot.
Reuter only had to wait another four minutes to get another gilt-edged opportunity and this time she was bang on target.
Lana Harch’s shot squirmed out from under Sydney keeper Rachel Cooper in the slippery conditions and Reuter was on hand to turn the ball in and give the Roar a deserved lead.
Matters were rather less positive for the home side in the 19th minute when Kim Carroll was stretchered off, but the smile returned to the face of Roar supporters on the half-hour mark – Alicia Ferguson getting a goal-scoring touch to an Elise Kellond-Knight corner.
The goal was part of a mad minute of activity for Cooper, who was pulled up for handling the ball outside the box, made a terrific save from the resultant free kick and then had to pick the ball out of the back of the net.
After heading to the break with a 2-0 lead the Roar continued to dictate proceedings in the second half.
But Sydney defended stoutly and the Roar were only able to add a single goal to their tally, this time through the agency of Courtney Beutel in the 62nd minute.
Cleverly springing the offside trap by starting her run in the Roar-s own half, Beutel calmly took the ball around Cooper and rolled the ball home inside the right-hand post.
Sydney all but had a goal of its own in the 75th minute. Linda O’Neill, who looked dangerous on occasions and had earlier directed a header over the bar, looked odds-on to score with only Casey Dumont to beat.
However, Dumont bravely threw herself at the feet of the Sydney attacker and a follow-up effort from Leena Khamis was then brilliant cleared off the line by Kate McShea.
Queensland coach Jeff Hopkins was delighted with his team’s display, particularly a commitment to defence that resulted in a fourth straight clean sheet.
“It was built on real solid defensive display – we knew they had a number of players that could cause us problems and we did really well to keep those players quiet,” Hopkins said.
“On top of that, we were more and more dangerous going forward and created number of chances even against a side as good as Sydney FC. If I’m going to critical, and I normally am, we maybe just need to put away a higher percentage of our chances.”
The Roar will await confirmation of the full extent of the knee injury suffered by defender Kim Carroll in the first half.
“It doesn’t look very good,” Hopkins said.
“Kim’s a key player for us. We’re hoping it’s not as serious as first thought.”
The result puts the Roar five points clear on top of the table, with five wins from six outings.
Match Details
Queensland Roar 3 (Karla Reuter 12-, Alicia Ferguson 30-, Courtney Beutel 63-)
Sydney FC 0
Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane
Crowd: 580
Saturday 29 November 2008
Referee: Sara Hodson
Assistant Referees: Brooke Staff & Rebecca Durcau
Fourth Official: Renee Coghill
Queensland Roar line-up: 1.Casey DUMONT (gk), 2.Kate McSHEA, 3.Karla REUTER, 4.Clare POLKINGHORNE (13.Tameka BUTT 69-), 5.Brooke SPENCE, 7.Kim CARROLL (19.Ellen BEAUTMONT 22-), 8.Elise KELLOND-KNIGHT, 9.Alicia FERGUSON, 10.Lana HARCH (11.Ruth BLACKBURN 77-), 16.Lauren COLTHORPE, 18.Courtney BEUTEL
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Lara BOON (gk)
Yellow Cards: Courtney Beutel 17-, Lauren Colthorpe 43-.
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney FC line-up: 1.Rachel COOPER (gk), 2.Samantha SPACKMAN (15.Jessica SEAMAN 41-), 3.Danielle BROGAN, 4.Alesha CLIFFORD, 5.Lisa GILBERT, 6.Servet UZUNLAR, 7.Heather GARRIOCK (c) (18.Nicola BOLGER 75-), 10.Kylie LEDBROOK, 16.Linda O-NEILL, 17.Danielle SMALL (14.Maggie ELHUSSEINI 90-), 19.Leena KHAMIS
Substitutes Not Used: 20.Nikki DIETER (gk)
Yellow Cards: Rachel Cooper 29-, Servet Uzunlar 60-
Red Cards: Nil
