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A 17 minute scoring blitz has helped Sydney FC record an
impressive 3-1 come-from-behind win against Brisbane Roar at Cleveland
Showgrounds, easing some of the pain from last season's controversial semi-final.
Football Fern Emma Kete teamed with Matildas Samantha Kerr
and Ellyse Perry on the scoresheet for the sky blues, who conceded the opening
goal to Lana Harch just prior to half-time.
Assisted by the bay breeze in the opening half, Sydney dominated
early; Kerr and Kyah Simon repeatedly sizing up the Brisbane goal from open
play while Perry threatened from set pieces.
Sydney saw a much-deserved opener disallowed on 17 minutes after Alanna
Kennedy was deemed to have infringed Roar goalkeeper Hoshima Kishi in a congested
penalty area scramble following Perry’s swirling corner.
The pint-sized Roar custodian remained under constant threat,
effecting two fully-extended saves to deny Kennedy and Perry either side of
being treated for a heavy head knock.
Despite infrequent flourishes, Roar remained incohesive and
unbalanced going forward – the hosts noticeably missing the presence of injured
attacking duo Tameka Butt and Hannah Beard.
The home side fashioned an opener against the run of play on
43 minutes when Clare Polkinghorne’s pass deflected fortuitously for Lana Harch,
who firmly struck her right-footed shot past the scrambling Sian McLaren.
Roar held their lead at the break, before Kerr levelled
terms for Sydney two minutes after the restart.
The energetic Sydney winger pounced when Eriak Elze dawdled
on the ball at the back for Brisbane; Kerr single-handedly dispossessing the
Roar defender before calmly winning the one-on-one with Kishi.
Rejuvenated by their equaliser, Sydney unrelentingly
peppered Brisbane’s goal – Kete, Perry and Kennedy unable to strike the target
from promising positions – before Kete delivered the visitors the lead in the 57th
minute; the Kiwi international winning out at the near post in a cluttered and
chaotic goal mouth scramble from Perry’s corner.
Perry then effectively ended the contest five minutes later by
bending her 20-yard free-kick around a four-person wall and in at the far post.
Brisbane continued to splutter as they forlornly attempted
to wile their way back in to the match but Roar created less than half-chances
as Sydney increasingly sat back and held their lead.
Speaking after the match, Perry praised her team's performance.
“Given the history that we share with Brisbane, and how
competitive all our matches are, it is nice to come up to play on their home
ground and get that kind of result.”
“This week we really did well with holding the ball and
moving it around, playing the kind of possession that we like – it’s a key
component of the way we want to play.”
“We have such strong players in the midfield with Teresa Polias,
Alanna Kennedy and Nicola Bolger; they’re real pivots for us and if we can hit
them and play forward from there it seems to work really well with our pace up
front.”
When asked about her goal, Perry smiled and described the
free-kick as “fortunate”.
“I missed plenty in practice during the week so it’s nice to
score one,” she confided.
BRISBANE ROAR 1 (Lana HARCH 43’)
SYDNEY FC 3 (Samantha KERR 47’, Emma KETE 57’, Ellyse PERRY
62’)
Attendance: 607 at Cleveland Showgrounds