If you look up the meaning of the common football term ‘bogey team’ you’ll find that the term refers to a team that tends to habitually beat another specified team despite appearing to be a weaker side. Canberra appeared to be the weaker side going into this match. Do Brisbane Roar consider Canberra United their bogey team? Probably should do.
If you add up the scores from the previous four meetings between Canberra United and Newcastle Jets you have a score of Canberra United 14 Newcastle Jets 8. So, expectations for a goal rush were high. Both teams also needed to get a grip on their inconsistent seasons so far.
On the 28th January 2017 Canberra United beat Melbourne Victory 5-1 at McKellar Park. Ashleigh Sykes and Grace Maher scored that day along with Yakari Kinga, an international World Cup winner for Japan. Hayley Raso played centre defence for Canberra and was booked. A young Nikki Flannery came on as a substitute along with Lisa De Vanna and Ellie Brush. It was the last time Canberra United have beaten Melbourne Victory.
On paper, Melbourne City v Canberra United should be a very one-sided game. Melbourne City are league leaders, have international players across the park. Canberra are young. But as Brian Clough said ‘ We’re a good team on paper, unfortunately the game is played on grass’.
Watching Canberra United without Michelle Heyman is a bit like watching Vera, without Vera. Or watching Unforgotten without the brilliant Nicola Walker. You look for her when the ball moves forward. You expect her to be lurking in the box. Something’s wrong and disturbing when she’s not there. Could Canberra cope?
Canberra United 1 Perth Glory 1. After four rounds of the A-League Women you start to get a picture of how the season is going to pan out. After the Unite round Canberra United lie 4th with 7 points from a possible 12. This was a game of two halves.
The start of any league season is unpredictable. Nobody had any clue as to how Canberra would play this season. This means that opposition teams also have no idea. They can’t do any homework on teams. You could see this in the randomness of the first two games as teams jostled for position and gaps appeared across the park.
Canberra United had to fight hard to get their first ever win on New Zealand soil. This is a game of grit and determination, featuring Michelle Heyman’s 100th A-League goal and Tiger, a mystery canine substitute. The game had it all…
Antoni Jagarinec is unquestionably a confident, optimistic coach who, clearly, doesn’t mind a challenge. Having taken over the Head Coach job at Canberra United only a short while ago he faced some pretty big challenges from the get go. All of which makes this result even more impressive.
