A snapshot of round four of the A-League Women season
ROUND FOUR OF THE A-LEAGUE WOMEN COMPETITION AT A GLANCE:
THEY SAID IT: “We deserve better, to play on a field that actually has grass and not dirt”. Sydney FC forward Shea Connors was among the ALW players who backed the league’s last-minute decision to relocate Unite Round to Jubilee Stadium following concerns over Leichhardt Oval’s playing surface. Ticket prices were waived to combat any aftershocks from the 11th-hour decision, with the Inner West Council issuing an apology over the condition of Leichhardt’s pitch.
WOMAN OF THE WEEK: Maya McCutcheon helped Wellington Phoenix to their first win of the season with a goal in first-half stoppage time against Adelaide United. Mebae Tanaka’s free kick ricocheted off numerous players before McCutcheon sent it home to push her side to a 1-0 win.
TALKING POINT: Only days after receiving their first Matildas call-ups, Natasha Prior, Isabel Gomez and Hana Lowry suffered injuries in round four that could jeopardise their hopes of playing in friendlies against Brazil and Taiwan. Prior left the Newcastle Jets’ 1-1 draw with Western United after suffering an ankle injury, after Central Coast’s Gomez hurt her knee in the 1-1 draw against Melbourne Victory. Lowry suffered her own knee injury in a collision during Sydney FC’s 1-1 draw with Melbourne City to cap a horror weekend.
STAT ATTACK: Tameka Yallop celebrated becoming Brisbane Roar’s outright games record holder with a long-range goal in the 4-0 thrashing of Western Sydney. Yallop passed Matildas defender Clare Polkinghorne with her 153rd appearance for the Roar.
BEAT THAT: After six seasons in second-tier competition NPL, Japanese defender Momo Hayashi announced her ALW arrival with a double in Brisbane’s thrashing of Western Sydney. The 29-year-old first scored when her free kick deflected from the Wanderers’ wall, before she poked the ball through traffic and into the right side of the goal.
UNDER PRESSURE: Newcastle have more than just Prior joining the casualty ward after the draw with United; NRLW star Sheridan Gallagher and Lara Gooch suffered leg injuries on Saturday and having made all their substitutes, Newcastle were forced to play out their game with 10 women. Coach Ryan Campbell could be left to reconfigure his team, but has caught a break with the Jets not scheduled to play next weekend.
UP NEXT: As international matches approach, only two games are scheduled for next week, with Melbourne City to host struggling Western Sydney Wanderers and Canberra United travelling to Gosford to face Central Coast Mariners later on Saturday.
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