Five second-half goals by 16-year-old Newcastle Jets striker Tara Andrews helped the team to a comprehensive 7-1 win over the embattled Adelaide United, while Sydney slotted in five against Perth to consolidate their spot in second in round nine of the Westfield W-League.
Andrews, whose name will forever haunt Sydney FC after she catapulted Newcastle to a 2-1 last-minute victory in round four, was again in good form, slotting in five goals in quick succession against Adelaide. The six-goal final margin belies the initial closeness of the match, though, with the teams locked at one goal apiece at half time.
Adelaide's Ashleigh Gunning's long-distance shot was denied was Allison Lipsher's fingertip save in the 7th. Melissa Feuerriegel opened the scoring for Newcastle in the 23rd before Adelaide's Rachael Quigley leveled the score. But five goals scored, the first occurring less than 60 seconds into the second half, rounded out with a second Feuerriegel goal gave the home team an unassailable lead.
Things went from bad to worse for Adelaide when Kirralee Gardener received a second yellow and a send off, which Andrews and Co. seized upon to pile on more goals. The victory marks Newcastle's third win of the season and keeps them in the chase for a finals spot.
Sydney too scored openly and often in their Sunday night match against Perth Glory, notching up five goals to Perth's one. Leena Khamis got on the end of a whipped-in corner to give Sydney their first in just the 3rd minute. Perth answered with some counter attacks but couldn't capitalise, and Khamis found the back of the net again in the 8th with a shot from 18 yards out.
Perth tried to regroup and Sydney captain Heather Garriock was lucky to escape a card after she issued a studs-up tackle, but Perth simply couldn't buy a goal. Collette McCallum's free kick hit the upright and then Sydney goalkeeper Dimi Poulos, who'd proved stellar against Roar Women in round 8, denied Kate Gill's and Samantha Kerr's shots.
McCallum's second goal-bound strike found the back of the net, giving Perth their sole goal for the game. But Kyah Simon made good on her first shot, which had skimmed the crossbar, to score a second-half hat trick and cancel McCallum's shot out. The convincing win helps Sydney consolidate their grip on second spot and move to within a point of league leaders Roar Women.
Further south, Melbourne hosted Canberra United at Kardinia Park, the traditional home of the Geelong Cats AFL team. And the Cats' good luck rubbed off, with the home team starting strongly and leading from start to finish.
Jodie Taylor had a brilliant chance for Melbourne seven minutes in, but muffed the chance through over-thinking it at the last moment as Lydia Williams came off her line to smother the shot. But she found the back of the net soon after, with her shot taking two deflections along the way: Williams tipped the ball over her head but couldn't get enough on it to parry it out of bounds and Cian Maciejewski ran desperately into the goal mouth to head it out, but the ball had already crossed the line.
Taylor was everywhere on the park, and earned herself a yellow for her enthusiastic and physical battles with Sally Shipard. In contract, Canberra struggled to put together the sequences of passes that are characteristic of their form. They had had a slight travel delay, which saw them arrive just 20 minutes before kick off and which may or may not have impacted on their match preparation.
Regardless, they continued to push for a goal, with the knowledge that they needed to hold onto their third spot and aim not to let Roar Women or Sydney FC to pull too far away points-wise.
They had a brilliant chance to equalise in the 90th minute, but Tseng Shu-O's shot was clipped by during its projectory and Melbourne goalkeeper Melissa Barbieri, scooped the shot up at the near post.
The weekend's results remind us that the season won't be over until it's over and, with the top four spots still up for grabs, the remaining three rounds are going to be explosive.
