This was the Forever Green – Heritage Round for Canberra United. A celebration of the rich history of the team and its impact on football in Australia. Former star players Ashleigh Sykes, Caitlin Munoz, Sally Shipard and Amy Duggan were inducted into the Canberra Football Hall of Fame. You could buy old shirts, or rather vintage merchandise, at the ground and have your picture taken with the W-League Champions Trophy in the Heritage Round photo booth. So, a celebration that warranted a good performance and a Canberra win. Party poopers Central Coast Mariners had other ideas.
How the team lined up
Michelle Heyman came back into the team for this match with Alex McKenzie on the bench. Maya Markovski shifted back to the wing and Emma Robers dropped to the middle of defence to partner Liz Anton. This was another variation on the central defence partnership since Hayley Taylor-Young filled in last match and Holly Murray before that. The good news was that the first-choice centre back Madison Ayson was on the bench, so presumably will return to her regular position soon. To be fair, the makeshift central defenders have done a fine job covering for the injured Ayson.
Canberra United and Central Coast Mariners have aspirations of a top 6 play-offs position by the end of the season. Coming into this match Canberra were 7th and Mariners 5th on the ladder. So, this was an opportunity to get on the front foot and stack up some important points. To win points you must score goals. Coach Jagarenic stated the obvious before the match.
We’ve been pretty good in our discipline and defensive shape and scrapping when we have to, but we need to start scoring more goals.
Both sides settled quickly into the match. Brooke Nunn showed early signs of her dangerous pace as she skipped past defenders down Canberra’s left side. Mariners were controlled in the build up with former Canberra player Bianca Galic prominent in the early stages. With Emma Robers playing central defence Canberra were a little short in midfield. And it showed. Galic, Taylor Ray and Nunn were pulling a few strings.
However, being without the ball is not usually a problem for Canberra as they can transition to attack quickly. An early example came when Taylor-Young won the ball in defence, found Heyman with a slick through ball, and continued her gallop forward. Heyman played her in, and Taylor-Young flashed a shot wide. The game had a nice flow to it. Mariners building smartly and Canberra waiting to pounce. Bertolissio collected a there’s only one Sally James pass and turned the ball in for Markovski. Markovski broke free from two markers and moved forward with purpose. She fed the ball to Heyman, continued her run into a gap and Heyman duly obliged with a reverse pass into the gap. The pass was a little heavy, but Markovski won the battle in the penalty area and went down in the challenge with Sarah Rowe. The crowd called for penalty, but the referee thought otherwise. The incident fired up Canberra a little. A little too much for Bertolissio who was booked for a challenge on Pennock. Nunn then had a decent ping from distance but there’s only one Sally James saved comfortably. Then young Tiana Fuller skipped past Robers and put over a dangerous cross that eluded two lurking Mariners’ forwards.
Canberra’s turn to attack saw a nice combination between Heyman, Gordon and Malone. Malone fed a clever ball into the box aiming for the running Christopherson. Mariners cleared frantically. Something was brewing. And it was very nearly Canberra’s time to drink. From the resultant throw-in, Bertolissio played a one-two with Markovski, who turned inside to Gordon. Bethany Gordon played a delightful one touch ball inside for Heyman, just inside the penalty area. Heyman turned and crossed the ball low and into the six-yard box. Seaman got a touch and the ball dribbled slowly across goal, missing everyone and the far post by a fraction.
Paradoxically, it was a fast transition play from the Mariners that broke the deadlock. Brooke Nunn robbed Gordon from a Canberra throw-in and raced into the Canberra half. On the run, she lobbed a perfect ball for Pennock on the edge of the box. Jade Pennock controlled the ball and swerved one way, then the other, before unleashing a shot that went in off there’s only one Sally James’s right-hand post.
Mariners went into the break 1-0 ahead in what was a cagey and entertaining first-half.
The second half sprang into action immediately. Seconds in, Liz Anton intercepted her umpteenth ball played forward by the Mariners and laid off to Stanic-Floody who turned and spotted Markovski in a little space to her left. Maya Markovski shimmied inside the top right of the Mariners’ box and laid an inch perfect pass for Michelle Heyman, lurking around the penalty spot. Heyman didn’t have a lot to aim at but chose to go to the keeper’s right, not the obvious choice but the right one given that the excellent Sarah Langman was anticipating a shot to her left. Heyman made it look easy, but it was an expert goal from an expert player.
With the game now at 1-1 you might have anticipated a conservative stalemate for a while. Not so. To their credit both sides were pushing forward, looking for another breakthrough. First, Mariners had a crack when Pennock headed over the bar. Then some nice interplay between Malone, Markovski and Heyman nearly resulted in another chance for Heyman. Heyman and Markovski seemed to have overdosed on pickle juice at half time, both causing headaches for the Mariners.
Canberra changed tactics around the 55th minute mark. They allowed Mariners to build from the back without pressing. The midfield dropped back with Markovski and Christopherson playing deeper, and Malone, Gordon and Stanic-Floody congesting the centre. This negated the influence of Galic and caused the Mariners to play longer balls over the midfield, not their preferred method. It also gave Canberra fresh impetus to drive forward, particularly after they brought on Aideen Keane in the 60th minute, inevitably for Mary Stanic-Floody. Keane soon had a good chance to score as Heyman worked her magic in the Mariners box, pulling the ball back for Malone whose first-time cross found Keane in front of goal, only a couple metres out. She swung the left foot in an air swing, with the ball hitting the right and dribbling wide. She’ll be thinking about that one for a while. Keane nearly made up for it when Malone put her through again only for Langman to just get there first.
Heyman’s pickle juice ran out in the 76th minute, replaced by Dos Santos, a player 17 years her junior. Darcey Malone was having a good game but when she went down winded in the 78th minute, it gave both coaches a chance to reassess and prepare the kitchen sink for a final fling. And so it was. Sinks at the ready.
Martin sent over an inviting cross for Pennock that needed the slightest of touches to trouble there’s only one Sally James. She didn’t quite make it. Then Keane twice got the better of her marker and sent over dangerous crosses that couldn’t find Canberra feet. Taylor-Young then wrestled her way into the box and sent an inviting ball for Christopherson who was thwarted by desperate defence.
Down the other end, Taylor-Young conceded a free kick 30 metres from there’s only one Sally James’s goal. Taylor Ray, who had a fine game for the Mariners, stepped up to take the kick. She unleashed a bullet of a shot that struck the post and went clear.
It was Malone the provider again, as she spotted Keane inside the Mariners’ box. Martin leaned into Keane and both players went down. The crowd and the Canberra bench went up in unison for a penalty, but the referee, who was a long way from the action, didn’t budge. The atmosphere went up a notch or two. Moments later Hayley Taylor-Young skipped past a couple of defenders and unleashed her own bullet the crashed against the post and was cleared. Then Jynaya Dos Santos received a pass from Markovski on the edge of the box and decided to add to the salvo by firing a shot that hit the cross bar. It was all happening.
The Canberra bench and crowd were ropeable by this stage, and it didn’t help when the referee decided to show yellow cards to coach Jagarenic and, bizarrely, Canberra’s goalkeeping coach. There was still time for Robers to get on the end of a Markovski free kick, but the header was well saved by Langman. The sink had been chucked to no avail.
In the previous fixture between these two sides the Mariners were 2-1 winners, but Canberra dominated much of the game and played some of their best football of the season. These sides are well matched and there were multiple fine performances from both teams. Maybe, hopefully, they will meet again in the play-offs?
