A solitary goal from Melbourne Victory striker Jodie Taylor proved enough for the home side to claim maximum points in a scrappy and largely forgetful encounter at Skilled Stadium in Geelong.
A solitary goal from Melbourne Victory striker Jodie Taylor proved enough for the home side to claim maximum points in a scrappy and largely forgetful encounter at Skilled Stadium in Geelong.
Taylor pounced in the 20th minute to break the deadlock following a surge from the influential Ashley Brown. Brown fed an inside pass that was neatly flicked into the path of Taylor whose fierce effort was palmed into the air by Canberra United goalkeeper Lydia Williams who could only watch on as the ball looped into the net despite the best efforts of Cian Maciejewski to keep it out.
The English forward was a constant thorn in the side of the United defence and really should have opened the scoring earlier seeing a 4th minute effort saved by the feet of Williams before wasting a gilt-edged chance five minutes later. After pouncing on a deflected pass Taylor raced in on goal and sold Williams with a neat dummy only to tamely roll the ball into the grateful arms of the United stopper when a goal seemed certain.
At the other end Matildas international Melissa Barbieri was largely untroubled in the first half with United restricted to chancing their arm from range. Emily Van Egmond went close with a looping shot whilst leading scorer Michelle Heyman lashed a fearsome effort just over the crossbar.
Kahlia Hogg also tried her luck from twenty metres before the Victory almost doubled their lead. Brown, who was proving to be a constant nuisance to Nicole Sykes at left back, skipped past the attempted challenge of the Dubbo defender and cut the ball back into the path of Louisa Bisby. Bisby struck her shot well, but saw Williams push the ball to safety with a terrific save.
Yellow cards to Bisby and Van Egmond for dissent rounded out a fractious first forty-five minutes with the home team deservedly in the lead.
After the interval Taylor-s personal duel with Williams continued with her shot being well saved by the United ‘keeper before the frustration of a succession of near misses saw Taylor cautioned for a reckless challenge.
Despite trying their best to force themselves back into the match, United seemed out of sorts with misplaced passes and under hit through balls being the norm as Canberra fought to gain some sort of foothold on the match. Perhaps the best chance of the half fell to Heyman who swung wildly at a loose ball in the area after a chipped free kick into the box by Maciejewski caused panic in the Victory rearguard, only to see her shot sail high and wide.
Victory, for their part, created little in the second half with a volley from Maika Ruyter-Hooley that went well over their only meaningful chance of the second period.
Canberra almost snatched an equaliser in the last minute when substitute Tseng Shu-O was released by a fine pass from the impressive Leah Blayney to fire a firm ball across the face of goal. Heyman challenged with Barbieri but the ball ended up in the side-netting and the final whistle followed shortly afterwards condemning United to a second successive defeat.
MATCH STATISTICS
Melbourne Victory 1 (Jodie Taylor 20-) Canberra United 0
Saturday, 8 January 2010
Skilled Stadium, Geelong
Local kick-off: 3.00 pm
Referee: Stacey Sasopolous
Assistant referees: Liz Hyland Danielle Anderson
Fourth official: George Lackrindis
Melbourne Victory: 1. Melissa BARBIERI (GK) (c), 3. Marlies OOSTDAM, 5. Louisa BISBY (7. Snez VELJANOVSKA 89-), 6. Maika RUYTER-HOOLEY, 8. Ella MASTRANTONIO, 9. Stephanie CATLEY, 10. Jodie TAYLOR (17. Caitlin FRIEND 76-), 11. Kendall FLETCHER, 12. Amy JACKSON, 13. Ashley BROWN (19. Enza BARILLA 72-), 18. Ursula HUGHSON
Substitutes not used: 20. Brianna DAVEY (GK)
Yellow cards: Louisa BISBY 26-
Red cards: Nil
Canberra United: 1. Lydia WILLIAMS (gk), 2. Caitlin COOPER, 4. Michelle HEYMAN, 5. Kahlia HOGG, 6. Caitlin MUNOZ (8. TSENG Shu-O 65-), 7. Ellie BRUSH (c), 10. Emily VAN EGMOND, 11. Cian MACIEJEWSKI, 13. Nicole SYKES, 15. Sally SHIPARD, 17. Leah BLAYNEY
Substitutes not used: 9. Grace GILL, 19. Jennifer BISSET, 20. Jocelyn MARA (gk)
Yellow cards: Emily VAN EGMOND 32-, Caitlin MUNOZ 62-
Red cards: Nil
