Canberra United claimed their first point at home this season with a 0-0 draw with Adelaide United despite being a player down for almost the entire game when Thea Slatyer was sent off after only eight minutes.
Canberra United claimed their first point at home this season with a 0-0 draw with Adelaide United despite being a player down for almost the entire game when Thea Slatyer was sent off after only eight minutes.
In a wet and windy conditions Canberra were happy with the point gained considering the circumstances, but also disappointed they didn-t come away with all three after dominating the match.
The contest was physical from kick off but erupted less than ten minutes into the match when Slatyer was shown a straight red card by referee Casey Reibelt for serious foul play after an innocent looking fifty fity challenge with Adelaide-s Stephanie Tokich.
Neither side had many chances but the home side was unlucky not to go into the break with a lead after Ashleigh Sykes chased down a through ball for a one on one with the Adelaide custodian Emma Wirkus, but struck the ball straight into the waiting arms after 30 minutes of play.
Adelaide nearly took the lead only minutes after the break but Canberra-s Lydia William-s dove to her right denying Adelaide-s leading goal scorer Sharon Black from point blank range three minutes into the second half.
Ashleigh Sykes continued to give the opposition-s backline headaches with her pace creating a number of chances for the home side but none of which found the back of the net.
The pacey striker-s best chance came after 52 minutes when she collected the ball and made a blistering run down the right hand wing before cutting inside in a move reminiscent to last week-s goal against Melbourne.
Instead of crossing it this week, A. Sykes pulled the trigger beating Wirkus near post but denied by the woodwork to keep the scores level.
Two minutes later, it was deja-vu for Adelaide with another run from Sykes down the sideline, this time crossing it dangerously into the box but was cut out for a Canberra corner.
Adelaide nearly pinched the lead against the run of play when Black had a one of one with Williams after passing Rebecca Kiting in the last line of defence, but her chip from the top of the 18 yard box nearly caught Williams off her line.
An athletic save worthy of any highlight reel saw Williams back peddling and dive backwards to get a fingertip of the ball and push it over the bar to the delight of the 804 in attendance.
After 15 minutes of the second stanza, Ashleigh Sykes nearly had her name on the score sheet when the striker found herself alone with Wirkus but a great save from the Adelaide keeper with her leg as Sykes tried to slot the ball far post.
Canberra United continued to dominate possession and looked the likeliest to score despite only 10 players as the home side pushed for a late winner when Amy Chapman curled a dangerous free kick into the box on the 90th minute.
The scramble in front of goal saw the ball out for a Canberra corner in the last chance of the game.
Defender, Ellie Brush pushed forward for the corner and nearly pinched a late winner in injury time but her header from a Chapman corner floating over the cross bar before Reibelt blew full time.
Head coach Robbie Hooker declined to comment on the red card after the game.
“Until I see a replay, I-m not going to comment on the red card,” Hooker said.
“We had the same referee last week in Melbourne and I thought she did alright, you-ve just got to take the good with the bad.”
Despite dominating play, Hooker believes there-s some positives after another one -got away- from his side.
“Coming away from that was a point gained not two points lost considering we played most of the game down a player however there was only one team that was going to win that game,” Hooker said.
“Honestly, I don-t know what they are doing, [Adelaide] didn-t make a game of it to be honest, the only team that made a game of it was us.”
“If you turned up late and didn-t see the send off and didn-t count the players on the park, you would have thought it was eleven versus eleven or they had a player sent off so I just wish we were playing them again this season.”
“At the end of the day it-s a point gained but I-m still ruing our missed opportunities after we hit the post, created numerous chances and it-s getting frustrating.”
“If we can keep playing like that it would be impossible for us to miss out [on the finals], we can-t keep playing that well and creating those chances and keep losing games, eventually the gods are going to have to start smiling on us.”
Canberra United: 1. Lydia WILLIAMS, 2. Rhian DAVIES (8. Rebecca KITING 60‘), 3. Amy CHAPMAN, 4. Bronwyn STUDMAN, 5. Sasha McDONNELL, 7. Ellie BRUSH, 9. Grace GILL, 11. Cian MACIEJEWSKI, 12. Kara MOWBRAY (19. Jennifer BISSETT 90+2‘), 13. Thea SLATYER, 14. Ashleigh SYKES (15. Nicole SYKES 90-)
Goals: Nil
Red Cards: 13. Thea SLATYER 8-
Yellow Cards: 4. Bronwyn STUDMAN 22-, 5. Sasha McDONNELL 62-, 11. Cian MACIEJEWSKI 86-
Subs Not Used: 20. Maja BLACSH (GK)
Adelaide United: 1. Emma WIRKUS, 3. Sarah AMORIM, 4. Dianne ALAGICH, 6. Kristyn SWAFFER, 9. Stephanie TOKICH, 11. Sharon BLACK (16. Leanne SLATER 87‘), 12. Tanya HARRISON 5. Angela FIMMANO 75‘), 13. Leah ROBINSON, 14. Donna COCKAYNE (7. Rachael QUIGLEY 68-) , 15. Lauren CHILVERS, 17. April MANN
Goals: Nil
Red Cards: Nil
Yellow Cards: 11. Sharon BLACK 78-, 6. Kristyn SWAFFER 82-, 16. Leanne SLATER 90-
Crowd: 804
Referee: Casey REIBELT
