Chris Macpherson 
Alexia Apostolakis in action for the Young Matildas during the 2024 AFC U20 Women's Asian Cup. Photo: Tiffany Williams/Football 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.
Melbourne City vs Western Sydney Wanderers (2-0)
Melbourne City: B
It was far from clinical from Melbourne City here but they were clearly dominant at AAMI Park as they managed to fire off 24 shots to the Wanderers six, and had they been a bit more accurate with their finishing this match could have been a five or six goal blow out.
Mariana Speckmaier was a constant attacking threat and could have had multiple goals in the first half, with a wayward finish early and collecting the woodwork preventing her from registering on the score sheet, before she finally broke through in the shadows of half time.
Alexia Apostolakis stepped up and was the beneficiary of a deflection off the wall from a free kick for City’s second goal, but it was essentially a reward for persistence and attacking domination throughout the match for the home side.
With some changes forced upon his squad in the lead up with Lourdes Bosch’s injury as well as Leah Davidson (Australia) & TJ Vlajnic (Serbia) on international duties, Michael Matricciani may give his team some lee way with this showing, however he will be very aware they will need to be much more clinical against the top sides when opportunities present if they are to ensure they are in the mix for silverware.
Western Sydney Wanderers: D
The Wanderers are in a world of hurt, and it has been over seven hours of match time since their last goal as they look a shadow of the side that narrowly missed the finals last season.
It was only a lack of converted opportunities from their opponents that saw this match avoid being a blow out and it is not the first time this season that a scoreline has flattered Western Sydney.
Coach Robbie Hooker attempted to reinvigorate their line up by dropping reigning Julie Dolan medal winner Sophie Harding back to the bench and then relying on her for impact, however even this fell short.
It is often the case with teams that are underperforming that on review of a cluster of their games you can identify specific areas of improvement or strengths they can leverage. For the Wanderers this is not immediately apparent and that is of the most concern.
There is currently a gulf between the rest of the league and Western Sydney and unfortunately for them there is no apparent immediate solution. They need to find attacking outlets and simultaneously shore up their defence, and a big improvement is required.
Central Coast Mariners vs Canberra United (2-1)
Mariners: C+
The Central Coast have been plucky so far this season and deserve significant credit for snatching victory from the jaws of defeat at home against Canberra.
The Mariners had their backs against the wall for the majority of this game and in gritty style found a scrappy goal through 16-year-old debutant Tiana Fuller only four minutes after she was injected into the match.
It was then a drought breaking goal to Shae Evans in the 68th minute, her first A-League Women goal since Round 1 of the 2019/20 season, that saw them grab an unlikely lead which they clung to for the remainder of the match.
After five matches it is fair to say the Mariners have not been the most convincing undefeated side we have seen, however the fact remains they are still undefeated and they deserve much credit for that.
Emily Husband’s side has all the makings of a contender, however they need to find the consistency and cohesion so they are not required to rely on good fortune and grind to come together for all of their results.
Canberra: C
Statistically everything suggested the side from the nations capital should have walked away from Gosford with three points, but as we know football results are not purely on strength of statistics. Surprisingly and disappointingly if you are a fan of Canberra, they somehow walked away completely empty handed.
Undoubtedly after they were so dominant in key facets leading the possession, passing, crossing and corner counts as well as an overwhelming shot count of 23 to 8 in their favour, Canberra were only able to chalk up just one goal.
The goal, which came from a Maja Markovski long range screamer, was the key highlight for the visitors but with their dominance the fact it was their sole goal was also an indictment of their conversion in front of goal.
In fact had it not been for a Sally James penalty save they could have lost this match 3-1, and as such will have the side and coaching staff wondering what went wrong or what they are missing.
Potency in front of goal was the number one asset for Canberra in 2022-23 and it has deserted them this season, and in this game they sorely missed striker Michelle Heyman, who is with the Matildas, and will look to welcome her return soon.
Statistically and in squad make up despite their challenging off season Canberra should be a finals (and potentially more) contender, however the habit of turning something into nothing could come back to bite them come April if they cannot arrest the troubling trend.