W-League: Sky Blues outclass Wanderers

The Sydney Derby is certainly one of the highlights of the W-League season as a outstanding crowd of 3084 people saw the Wanderers falling very short on making their mark on the game against their rivals from the east, going down 2-0 to Sydney FC.

The Sky Blues had early attempts at goal and held possession from the opening moments and set the tone for the remainder of the game.

Keelin Winters from the Wanderers must be credited for her extensive role in attempting to add to the Wanderer’s scoreboard, which saw a great opportunity to Hannah Beard to open the game with the Wanderers leading which sadly fell flat.

Despite such a great opportunity for the team from the west, Sydney FC was able to secure a goal in the 12th minute thanks to Jasmyne Spencer.

Shamiran Khamis, on her debut as goalkeeper for the Wanderers, was certainly struggling to get comfortable for a large-portion of the game, subsequently resulting a huge amount of pressure being placed on the Wanderers defensive line.

Defence was becoming an increasing issue for the Wanderers as the game progressed, with a serious improvement needed for their next game against Perth Glory.

This was seen explicitly by the large gap between the Wanderers midfielders and defenders that led to minor errors that Sydney FC were able to exploit.

This reliance placed on the Wanderers defence saw Linda O’Neill receive her first yellow card of the match after her attempt at stopping Chloe Logarzo went horribly wrong.

Winters once again provided a clear ball to Michelle Carney, which was once again short of changing the score.

Victoria Guzman, also on her starting debut for the Wanderers, shot right above the goalkeeper’s box from a ball from Jessica Seaman which saw a repeat of the Wanderers unable to convert opportunities to goals.

Sydney was evidently the more polished side throughout the first half, holding possession and providing minimal errors that left the Wanderers frantically searching for any opportunity to add to the scoreboard.

The second half saw Helen Petinos rise to the challenge of changing the score, which sat at 1-0, creating a plethora of opportunities for the Wanderers that reflected the fighting spirit of the W-League side to challenge their eastern rivals.

Sydney increase its lead to 2-0 thanks to Amy Harrison, who soon after has another attempt only to bounce off the very top of the net.

Substitutions were made soon after as the Wanderers had Lorena Budgen coming on for Demi Koulizakis while Sydney later took suit with Ellyse Perry coming on for Jasmyne Spencer.

The Wanderers continued to make efforts to attribute to the increasing scoreboard, but Sydney's stellar defence continue to prevent any opportunities from occurring.

Sydney became increasingly threatening as the game progressed, forcing the Wanderers to resort to unclean tactics that forced O’Neill to receive her second yellow card for tacking Logarzo once again, consequently rulling her out against Perth Glory in the Wanderers next game.

The Wanderers' inability to hold onto the ball and make clean passes, which could perhaps be attributed to the newly formed squads inability to communicate with each other on the field, lead to the squad lacking uniformity and cohesion.

Substitutions were made by both sides in the final moments with Rachael Soutar coming on for Helen Petinos whilst Sydney replace Nicola Bolgar with Olivia Price.

A desperate scramble by both sides to add to the final score was seen through the additional four minutes added onto the clock, with Sydney providing a decent chance which was just wide of further escalating the Sky Blues' lead.

The final score sat at 2-0, with questions being raised about the Wanderer’s side's three losses in a row suggesting that there needs to be colossal change or improvement in their defensive line-up with hopes that the experience given to those who debuted only attribute to their further growth and development in the W-League.

The Western Sydney Wanderers side will next take on Perth Glory on October 5 as they hope to end their current losing streak.



Western Sydney Wanderers FC starting line-up: Caitlin COOPER, Jessica SEAMAN, Helen PETINOS, Kendall JOHNSON, Keelin WINTERS, Michelle CARNEY, Hannah BEARD, Demi KOULIZAKIS, Linda O’NEILL, Victoria GUZMAN and Shamiran KHAMIS (GK).

Wanderers substitutes: Rachael SOUTAR, Lorena BUGDEN, Tia GAVIN and Trudy BURKE (GK).


Sydney FC starting line-up: Teresa POLIAS (C), Alesha CLIFFORD, Jasmyne SPENCER, Servet UZUNLAR, Nicola BOLGER, Amy HARRISON, Renee ROLLASON, Natalie TOBIN, Chloe LOGARZO, Samantha JOHNSON and Casey DUMONT (GK).

Sydney FC bench: Ellyse PERRY, Trudy CAMILLERI, Olivia PRICE and Alyssa HARRIS (GK).