Canberra United has recorded their first victory of the season with a 2-0 win over the Melbourne Victory in Round Four of the Westfield W-League at McKellar Park.
Canberra United has recorded their first victory of the season with a 2-0 win over the Melbourne Victory in Round Four of the Westfield W-League at McKellar Park.
Goals from either side of the break from Chinese Taipei import Tseng Shu O sealed the home side-s maiden victory of 2009 and put their season back on track in a dominant display.
The home side continued their impressive form from last weekend-s come from behind draw yesterday when the side looked dangerous in attack and comfortable behind the ball.
Playing with the usual three strikers, Canberra United pressed forward from the kick off and had the bulk of the opportunities in the first half.
Canberra-s first shot on goal came after only seven minutes when Tseng collected the ball on the right wing, beat a defender and played the ball into the box but captain Ellie Brush could get enough power on her header to beat Melbourne custodian Melissa Barbieri.
Controlling much of the possession, Canberra United were able to dictate the play and were nearly rewarded in the 14th minute when midfielder Emily van Egmond-s volley nearly dipped below the crossbar from the edge on the penalty area.
Two minutes later, Melbourne gave their hosts a scare when a ball into the box took a deflection to Vedrana Popovic directly in front of goal but the striker couldn-t hit the target as she redirected the ball just past the far post.
The strike combination of Tseng, Ashleigh Sykes and Jen Bisset was proving difficult to handle for Melbourne defenders as they were continually back peddling with through balls putting them on the back foot.
Canberra-s patience with the ball eventually paid dividends when Tseng opened the scoring in the 27th minute.
A perfectly weighted through ball from Van Egmond across the deck found Tseng in full flight who beat the off side trap before a quick pair of feet saw her step around Barbieri and finish into an empty net.
Not content being up by one, Canberra United immediately pressed for a second and it nearly came minutes later through Ashleigh Sykes but a stellar save from point blank range denying the home side.
With her second goal in two games, Tseng began playing with the flair and confidence of someone with bright purple hair as the striker continued to find space in behind the Melbourne backline.
With a narrow lead at the break, Canberra United couldn-t have started the second half any better when Tseng netted her second of the match only three minutes after kick off.
Van Egmond played Ashleigh Sykes down the right wing before playing a ball in behind the defence as Tseng ran on to it and got a faint touch to see it past Barbieri and the ball trickle over the line to the delight of the 856 in attendance.
Ten minutes into the second half, defender Rebecca Kiting was handed her first appearance for the 2009 campaign and showed no sign of the back injury that had kept her sideline.
Kiting had an immediate impact but couldn-t hit the target with her header from an Ellyse Perry free kick after Ashleigh Sykes was brought down in the corner by Melbourne-s Maika Ruyter-Hooley.
Provider of the second goal, Ashleigh Sykes nearly became goal scorer when she snuck in behind the defence and beat the off side trap but fired her shot just wide of the near post.
Down 2-0, Melbourne began to play the football which saw them sitting third coming into this weekend-s fixture as they pushed forward to reduce the deficit.
Solid defending saw shots blocked and crossed cleared as Canberra-s net minder Lydia Williams was rarely tested.
Sykes got a late chance to put her side even further ahead after she again found acres of space between backline and keeper after a through ball from Perry but the striker couldn-t get enough on her shot as Barbieri came charging off her line.
Eventually the final whistle went as Canberra held on to record their first win of the season in the very important fixture.
Canberra United co-captain Ellie Brush was delighted with the team-s effort after the match and believes that the side is starting to reap the rewards of Junna-s style of football.
“It-s all just starting to click with the new formation so I-m really happy with the way it turned out today,” Brush said.
“We-re very happy with the win but not to concede is something that we spoke about during the week so it was a fantastic effort by the whole team.”
Match Details:
Canberra United 2 (Tseng 27-/48-)
Melbourne Victory 0
Canberra, ACT
Canberra United 1. Lydia WILLIAMS, 4. LIN Chiung Ying, 7. Ellie BRUSH (c), 8. Emily VAN EGMOND (12. Snez VELJANOVSKA 82-), 9. Grace GILL, 10. TSENG Shu O, 11. Cian MACIEJEWSKI (2. Rebecca KITING 64-), 14. Ashleigh SYKES, 15. Nicole SYKES, 16. Ellyse PERRY, 19. Jennifer BISSET (5. Kahlia HOGG 60-)
Subs not used: 20. Jocelyn MARA
Yellow Cards: A. SYKES 61-
Red Cards: Nil
Melbourne Victory squad: 1. Melissa BARBIERI (c), 2. Vedrana POPOVIC, 3. Marlies OOSTDAM (19. Enza BARILLA 68-), 4. Tal KARP (14. Selin KURALAY 50-), 5. Laura ALLEWAY, 6. Maika RUYTER-HOOLEY, 8. Katie THORLAKSON (10. Deanna NICESKI 68-), 9. Stephanie CATLEY, 11. Julianne SITCH, 12. Monnique KOFOED, 13. Katrina GORRY
Subs Not Used: 20. Nicole PAUL
Yellow Cards: RUYTER-HOOLEY 66-
Red Cards: Nil
Referee: Sarah Hodson
Crowd: 856
