W-League: Glory's Gill breaks match goals record

It’s been a big week for record-breaking Perth Glory striker and Matildas co-captain Kate Gill.

Gill became the first player to score five goals in a Westfield W-League match last Sunday when she and her Glory teammates tore apart the hapless Western Sydney Wanderers in a 10-1 drubbing at Marconi Stadium.

That was followed on Wednesday by what the humble 29-year-old described as one of the biggest accomplishments of her illustrious career when she became the first woman to be appointed to the Professional Footballers Association’s executive committee.

“It’s great to actually give back to the women’s game in that regard and I think having a female voice on the committee is fantastic,” Gill said.

“It’s great the PFA have recognised that and given me such a high position.”

Gill’s five-goal haul against Western Sydney included a record-equalling 11-minute hat-trick and took her season tally to eight goals from just four games.

It is not the first time Gill has peppered the back of the net five times in a single match. In fact, the New Zealand-born striker scored five goals in consecutive matches for the Matildas against Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong back in 2007.

All five of Gill’s goals last Sunday came in the second half as the in-form Glory coasted to its biggest ever W-League victory and fourth win from as many matches this season.

And Gill warned there could be more to come as she continues to develop on her lethal partnership with new signings Sam Kerr and Caitlin Foord.

“We have a very attacking mindset and we’ve got some great players who complement each other very well,” Gill said.

“You’ve got Sammy Kerr whose pace is phenomenal and then Caitlin Foord whose running speed with the ball at her feet is fantastic. And then there’s Collette (McCallum) whose distribution is also phenomenal.

“It’s nice to have other options going forward because it changes our game a little bit so that we’re not one-dimensional. We now have people running in behind and people who can dribble and carry the ball forward and we’re not just looking for that one-off opportunity.”

Gill’s form around goals is sure to have caught the eye of new Matildas coach Alen Stajcic ahead of next year’s World Cup in Canada.

Stajcic served as interim coach of the national women’s team during this year’s Asian Cup in Vietnam, but surprisingly only started the goal-savvy Gill in one match.

Gill didn’t disappoint in her sole appearance against Jordan, scoring a brace to overtake Cheryl Salisbury as Australia’s greatest ever goal scorer in international matches.

“It’s the coach inevitably who makes those calls so all you can do is keep chipping away and keep trying to prove people wrong,” Gill said.

“There’s been a change of personnel now so everyone’s got to prove themselves all over again so it (scoring five goals in a match) can’t do any harm, but I guess time will tell come January when they start putting together the squad.”

League leaders Glory host third-placed Canberra United at Ashfield Sports Club on Saturday in what will be the first true test of the Perth side’s championship credentials.