On paper, Melbourne City v Canberra United should be a very one-sided contest. Melbourne City are top of the table and boast international players all over the park, including the bench. They have the backing of the City Football Group (a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi United Group) who also owns English Premier League club Manchester City, Major League club New York City and Rugby League side Melbourne Storm to name a few. Which means they can offer top players much better conditions and support than Canberra can.  And they do. In contrast Canberra is a young, standalone, team still finding their feet with nothing close to the support Melbourne City have.

But as Brian Clough once said:

We’re a good team on paper, unfortunately the game is played on grass.

How the team lined up

Inevitably, it was Heyman who threw down the gauntlet to Melbourne City from the outset. The ball broke to her down the left-hand side of Melbourne’s defence, she glided past Otto like she wasn’t there and tried to squeeze the ball in the near post. Game on.

Canberra’s positive start was rewarded in the 11^th minute when Stanic-Floody sent Michelle Heyman through with an outside of the foot slide rule pass down the line. Heyman saw the keeper off her line, casually strolled around the outside and, from an acute angle, slotted the ball home for her 113^th league goal.

The game then developed into a ding-dong battle. A goalmouth scramble in Canberra’s penalty area ended with the ball in the back of the net, only for a foul on there’s only one Sally James to be called. Darcy Malone made a last-ditch block to stop a close-range attempt on goal. Then Davidson set up McKenna to have a pop from distance which was well saved from there’s only one Sally James. Stanic-Floody took a short corner to Malone who chipped a dangerous cross into the Melbourne box. The keeper got a touch, just enough to put Liz Anton off who was lurking on the back post. Anton put the ball over the bar from close range. It was all entertaining stuff.

The show went on as McKenna picked up the ball on the edge of the box and shot through a sea of legs. Melbourne was pushing more than Canberra but both sides looked dangerous. Half time came and Heyman had a smile on her face as Canberra went in 1-0 ahead against the team of internationals in their 30,000 seat stadium (which had 926 people in it). It was an even first half with Heyman showing once more how important a quality striker is to a team. It certainly wasn’t the easiest chance of the first half, but she made it appear that way.   

Canberra needed to consolidate the lead in the first period of the second half. The longer the game went at 1-0 the more frustrated Melbourne City would be. Frustration in a team is never good. Fortunately for Melbourne City the equalizer came quickly. The ball broke down Canberra’s left side leaving the defence a little short on numbers. As the ball came in Madison Ayson tried desperately to clear but the ball fell to Mariana Speckmaier who should have scored but smacked the ball against the cross bar. It dropped to Harvey who headed into the back of the net where there’s only one Sally James and McKenzie ended up as well.

Melbourne City’s tail was up, and they started to wrestle control of the game. They were composed on the ball, retaining possession well. On the hour mark former Canberra midfielder and now Matilda, Laura Hughes, guided a shot that was well saved from there’s only one Sally James. The resultant corner was a defensive disaster for Canberra. Speckmaier was left free on the six-yard box to head the ball forward. It deflected off Markovski into the corner of the net. You could say it was unlucky, but Speckmaier was given far too much freedom. 2-1 with 30 minutes to go.

Shortly after the goal Canberra made their first substitution, bringing on Nathan for Stanic-Floody. Coach Jargarenic has a habit of pulling off Stanic-Floody on the hour mark. Make of that what you will. Melbourne City made a substitution too. Bringing on one of Australia’s best talents in Holly McNamara, returning to action after the third ACL injury of her career. Hopefully McNamara will remain injury free as she would be a definite contender for more Matildas caps. Canberra also brought on Bertollissio for Markovski, moving Taylor-Young forward, Holly Murray for Malone and Bethany Gordon for Emma Robers. Gordon making her debut for Canberra.  

With 15 minutes to go Christopherson misplaced a back pass straight into the path of Laura Hughes. Hughesy was having a good game and didn’t hesitate after seeing there’s only one Sally James off her line.  She chipped the ball 40 metres giving there’s only one Sally James no chance. Hughsey was a popular player for Canberra and it’s terrific to see her playing so well and getting recognition nationally. A fabulous goal.

Canberra’s reaction to being 3-1 down was to attack. Taylor-Young was now a fully fledged winger, Ruby Nathan was alongside Heyman, Gordon and Murray were pushing from midfield. A very positive approach. Melbourne was trying to calm the game down while Canberra was trying to create chaos. Canberra’s approach inevitably left them a bit more exposed in defence which was always risky.  

With two minutes on the clock Canberra’s positive approach paid off with what looked like a planned move from a corner. Gordon played back to Christopherson, who returned the ball to Gordon. Bethany Gordon advanced into the box and played a nice straight ball to Heyman who calmly did the rest. With the score at 3-2 and little time left Canberra still had belief as the players hurriedly jogged back for the restart.

Hopes for an equalizer were quickly dashed as McNamara was left free running toward Canberra’s goal. Her shot came off the post and McKenna tapped home. It was a kick in the guts for Canberra.

So the game of two halves settled on a 1-0 win for Canberra in the first half and a 4-1 win for Melbourne in the second. The score line looks harsh on Canberra, and they paid the price for losing possession too often in dangerous positions. They also paid a little price for having such a positive approach, but that’s a price worth paying.

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