Poletti 
Wellington Phoenix defender Maya McCutcheon, holding the two player of the match plaques awarded by the Little Corner of Yellow to her this season. Photo: Poletti/Round Ball Australia
Each week during the A-League Women season, Round Ball Australia hands out a report card for the competition based on how the teams performed across the weekend’s fixtures.
Adelaide United vs Wellington Phoenix (0-1)
Adelaide United: C-
Adelaide held strong in the opening 45 minutes despite a peppering of shots from Wellington, and only conceding with the final kick of the first half, before performing much better in the second half, with Claudia Jenkins leading the way from the back throughout the contest.
Despite a strong second half, Adelaide began to fall away at the end, giving away a couple of needless fouls as frustrations began to set in for Adrian Stenta’s side, who now sit at two wins and two losses on the season.
Adrian Stenta said he felt that his side did not perform at their best, and did not create enough.
“We were just a little bit off. In this league, if you’re a little bit off, you get punished,” he said.
He also pointed out the lack of quality finishing in the final third as a reason for the loss, despite the improved second half performance.
With a home game against the Jets on the horizon after the international break, the Reds might be welcoming back some of their injured stars, with Stenta confirming that Chelsie Dawber and Nanako Sasaki are not too far away and on schedule to return at some point close to the conclusion of the international break.
Wellington Phoenix: B
The first half for Wellington saw a stark difference between the side who went to Maitland last week and did not register a shot on target, compared to four shots on target and a 1-0 lead against the Reds at Unite Round as Maya McCutcheon notched up not only her first A-Leagues goal, but the first of her first professional career.
The Phoenix kept their resiliency up in the second half, and despite some strong Adelaide chances, held strong, and picked up not only their first victory of the year in the Dub, but gave the competition its first sight of one of the A-Leagues great traditions, shirts off in the 80th minute from the Nix fans in attendance, a sight no one warned McCutcheon of.
“I was totally surprised and I didn’t know what was happening, but I love it,” she said with a laugh.
Paul Temple said that getting the first win of the season was a bit of a relief, noting that it was nice to be rewarded after some good performances to start the season.
Poletti
Western Sydney Wanderers vs Brisbane Roar (0-4)
Western Sydney Wanderers: F
No matter which way you want to slice and dice up this performance and try to analyse it, it was a tough watch for the Wanderers faithful on Friday night as they got picked apart by Brisbane Roar, with the only positive being that Sham Khamis continued her good start to the season, as it could have been so much worse on the scoreboard for the Wanderers if she was not there.
They were so far behind the Roar in every facet of the game, it looked like the two sides were playing completely different games, almost like a quality gap you would expect in a Cup competition between a top division and third division side.
For Wanderers fans and players, it is going to be a long season, with Robbie Hooker saying post-game that the club have made it clear there is no budget to do anything in the transfer window.
He also said he felt no one had anything resembling a good performance, and once again emphasised the youthfulness of the squad and development will take time, something he has said throughout the season so far.
It does not get easier for the Wanderers with a trip to face Melbourne City on the cards before they get their week off during the split round of the international break.
Brisbane Roar: A
The Roar continue to soar to new heights this season under Alex Smith, with Momo Hayashi and Emily Pringle scoring their first goals in the league (Hayashi scored two), and Tameka Yallop finding the goal with an audacious chip in game 153 for the Roar, now the club’s all time A-League Women appearance record holder.
Assessing their first month of the season, the Roar look like the most complete side in the competition, and coach Alex Smith believes they can get better.
“I think we can polish off quite a few things when it comes to performance, so that’s what we’ll be focusing on over the next two weeks going into Wellington away,” Smith said.
The idea of the ladder-leading Brisbane Roar being able to get better is a scary proposition for the other 11 teams if they can maintain their current form as the season goes on.
Poletti
Central Coast Mariners vs Melbourne Victory (1-1)
Central Coast Mariners: C
Emily Husband’s side remain undefeated at the international break, and a performance like this shows exactly why they will be a side to again be reckoned with this season.
Despite some player turnover in the off-season, the recruitment from Husband has been incredibly smart, finding players who will gel with the existing group, and make everyone better.
Annalise Rasmussen, the club’s first ever signing upon their re-admission into the competition, scored her second goal in as many matches.
Isabel Gomez is continuing to show why she is such an integral part of the midfield, and was rewarded with a Matildas call-up, as was Jessika Nash, another new recruit for Husband’s side, while Bianca Galic received her first call-up to the Croatian national side in the October window.
The performance during the game itself was marred by the heat, but they did enough to get a point in a showing mixed with tough and gritty determination and smooth, flowing football.
Even though the Mariners play again before they get their week off, Husband said she was happy to get through the first four games undefeated, regardless of the number of points.
Melbourne Victory: C
The Victory never truly looked in this game, struggling to deal with the overlap the Mariners created in midfield, a problem Jeff Hopkins acknowledged was an issue post-game, but fought back well to rescue a point with Kayla Morrison scoring a late equaliser in the 85th minute.
He also said that he felt both sides did the best they could in the conditions, with the game kicking off at 2:15pm local time in sweltering heat.
Given the conditions, this is probably about as good a performance as one could have expected from the Victory, and not too much should be read into how it may or may not impact their season.
Poletti
Newcastle Jets vs Western United (1-1)
Newcastle Jets: C+
A point went the way of Newcastle but again coach Ryan Campbell addressed points that got away, detailing that the Jets had two one on one chances late in the game and need to find a way to take those chances to win games.
The Jets created a number of chances and promising attacking opportunities, however outside of a maiden A-Leagues goal to Claudia Cicco and a strong shot from substitute Libby Copus Brown they failed to genuinely look like a threatening outfit.
Adding to the frustration of another bout of missed points was what appeared to be a trio of injuries that forced changes throughout the match for Newcastle, to the extent they finished the game with 10 players.
Campbell addressed these saying that Lara Gooch was the only concern, but team medical staff said the injury didn’t look too serious, but will result in a bit of time off the park.
Sheridan Gallagher and Natasha Prior’s changes were described as load management and precautionary substitution in order to manage Prior ahead of her first Matildas campaign in the upcoming international window.
The Jets still need to find a way to convert opportunity into more points if they are to find a way to hold in the top six throughout the season.
Western United: C-
It was a somewhat disjointed Western United side that struggled with Newcastle’s ball movement in midfield but were able to find runs when they had possession. But the challenge was they allowed Newcastle to have the majority of possession and control the tempo of the game for long periods.
Whilst Grace Maher was the headline act with her long range rocket into the top corner securing a share of the points for Western United, Chloe Lincoln deserves much of the credit as she was immense at the back for the travelling United squad in her first start of the season.
It was an unfamiliarly flat appearing Western United outfit, most notably in the first half and post game coach Kat Smith addressed the fact they were unable to convert a first half penalty and other chances as being costly and forcing them to chase the game.
Smith praised the efforts of the team overall and specifically the addition of Chloe Logarzo back into the squad, identifying that Logarzo plays a influential role in our style of play.
Smith did caveat however that after a few big weeks, that included Logarzo’s wedding last week, “she (Logarzo) is not at her best, and won’t mind me saying that”.
It looks that Western have plenty of improvement in them but after a comprehensive loss last week to Victory and sharing points somewhat fortunately here, there is work to be done.
Chris Macpherson
Canberra United vs Perth Glory (1-1)
Canberra United: B-
Mary Stanic-Floody only scores bangers, with her screamer rescuing a point for Canberra on a day where performances were hampered by the heat, a theme throughout the entire round, and a factor which made it hard to grade, knowing that the quality of the game was impacted.
Coach Antoni Jagarinec said he felt his side prepared as best as they could to handle the conditions, and was very proud of their efforts, with several players suffering the impacts of the heat throughout the contest.
It was a valuable point for Canberra, and one they might not have rescued last season, which is a huge testament to the work being done by Jagarinec, not only in the off-season recruitment, but in how his side is coming together on and off the field.
A tough test awaits against the Central Coast Mariners, but if they can perform half as well as they did against Perth and hopefully in much less brutal conditions, they will continue their fantastic start to the season before a well-earned week off.
Perth Glory: B-
Stephen Peters felt that his side did enough in the first half to win the game, which was dominated by the Glory, and reflective of how he wants his side to play the entire match.
There were some referee decisions which seemed to go against the Glory, with Peters pointing out an incident in the lead-up to Canberra’s goal. There was also a call in the first-half which if not called, could have seen Glory get their second goal, which he felt would have been enough to secure his side all three points.
“I don’t think [the ref] had a particularly strong game and I’m going to have to keep it there,” Peters said.
On the game itself, he said that losing Onyinyechi Zogg early in the second half was tough for the side, and impacted their second-half performance.
He also spoke about Casey Dumont, who played her first match for the Glory, and how her inclusion helped the side perform.
“It was a big thing for Miranda [Templeman] to play away at City and away at Brisbane, so credit’s got to her there, because that was a difficult task,” he said.
“Havng Casey in is a massive step for us. I think everyone saw today the stability it gave with her and Zogg present, it was good.”
Returning to coach in New South Wales for the first time since he left the Macarthur Rams, Peters said it felt like a home game to him with some Rams fans in the stands, which was evident with Miku Sunaga’s inclusion in the 57th minute leading to a loud cheer from the crowd.
If the mentality of a home game every time the side is on the road in New South Wales can rub off on the rest of the squad, it could be a huge season for the Glory.
Poletti
Sydney FC vs Melbourne City (1-1)
Sydney FC: C+
It was a much more comprehensive performance from Sydney FC this week in their 1-1 draw with Melbourne City. The unrelenting high press they played in the first half kept City on the back foot and made their typical style of play difficult to nearly impossible to execute.
The early goal, whilst scored by Mackenzie Hawkesby, who had a quality outing for the Sky Blues, was a real team effort made at the top of the box to find the opening.
Sydney let City back into the game when Bri Edwards failed to deal with a shot correctly and dropped the ball back into her own net.
They stepped off in the second half, no longer pressing City’s defence with the same intensity they had earlier, which may have been due to the impact the heat was having on the players.
A major worry for Sydney is the possibility of a serious injury to midfielder Hana Lowry, who went down late in the game and needed to be substituted off. The injury could not have come at a worse time for Lowry, who had just recently been named to an extended national team squad.
Despite the much better showing from Sydney FC, they still look like a shadow of themselves from last season’s dominance on the pitch and on the table.
The quality that Sydney boasts both in their squad and in their coaching staff is yet to reflect in their play, leaving them going into Round Five sitting ninth on the table with a measly four points to their name.
While it is still early days in the season, Sydney are really going to have to make a change somewhere soon before they find themselves in real danger of missing finals football.
Melbourne City: C+
City’s usual football was tested this weekend by Sydney FC. The desire to maintain possession and play out from the back left them increasingly vulnerable to Sydney’s high press.
The goal scored by Lourdes Bosch, her third goal in her last three games, was truly gifted to them by goalkeeper Bri Edwards.
The first half was a heart-in-mouth watch for City fans, as Sydney mounted attack after attack on their goal, which usually happens the other way around for City.
The defence held strong between the level head of captain Rebekah Stott, the seasoned partnership she shares with Taylor Otto, and the youth and speed of Alexia Apostolakis, who had another player of the match performance for City.
The attacking side of things for City was rejuvenated in the second half as a result of two things. Sydney dropping off their high press on the backline, allowing City the space and time to play their usual way, and the injection of Bryleeh Henry into the forward line.
Despite usually playing as a right back for City, Henry’s natural position is on the wing. She thrived there in the half she played, pressing, crossing, and taking a few shots on goal. If given the opportunity to play there more frequently, City may find a new option to score through when opposing teams work to shut out their key goalscorers.
Drawing in their last two games is not City’s expected prerogative, but given they host Western Sydney Wanderers next week, they are likely to return to their winning ways.
Burke