First Grade
Canberra Olympic 0 def. by Canberra United Academy 9 (Sacha Grove 13’, 20’, 77’, Hayley Taylor-Young 47’, 60’, 71’, 84’, 85’, 86’)
By Jakob Gisik
A six-goal haul from Hayley Taylor-Young and a Sasha Grove hat-trick has powered the Canberra United Academy to a 9-0 win over Canberra Olympic at O’Connor on Sunday afternoon.
Leading just 2-0 at the break, the Academy piled on seven second-half goals to bounce back in style from a disappointing round one loss.
It was a tough day for Olympic though, who fielded a new look side following an exodus of Westfield W-League players in the offseason.
Grove opened the scoring for the Academy in the 13th minute, slotting the ball past Olympic goalkeeper Madeleine Sanfrancesco after getting on the end of a well-weighted through ball from Taylor-Young.
The Academy speedster doubled her tally inside 20 minutes, this time pouncing on an errant back-pass and dribbling around Sanfrancesco before firing into an open net.
Olympic settled as the half wore on and even created a few chances of their own, with Natina Skinner looking dangerous up front for the home side.
Their best chance came in the 26th minute, when Skinner turned her defender and burst toward goal, only to see her shot fade to the right.
The second-half was all one-way traffic though, as Taylor-Young netted her first goal just 90 seconds after the break.
The Academy striker bagged her second just shy of the hour mark, before reaching her hat-trick in the 71st minute with arguably her best goal of the day.
Academy midfielder Molly Lawless provided a lovely ball for Taylor-Young who accelerated down the left-flank, juked into the penalty area and fired a powerful shot inside the near post.
Grove was not to be outdone by her teammate though, as she scored from close range six minutes later to secure a hat-trick of her own.
The last five minutes belonged to Taylor-Young however, who scored three goals to take her tally to six and push the lead out to nine.
While it was Taylor-Young and Grove that hit the scoresheet, they were often the beneficiaries of some slick ball movement that continually exposed the Olympic defence throughout the match.
The Academy will look to continue this form when they travel to Wagga to play the Wanderers next weekend, while Olympic will be hoping to bounce back when they take on Canberra FC.
Reserves |
Canberra Olympic 1 def. by Canberra United Academy 6
U/17’s |
Canberra Olympic 0 def. by Canberra United Academy 9 (Charli Mitchell (4), Lyella Coleman (2), Charli Gregson, Tia Burridge, Bessie Reithmuller)
By Tony Choy
The Canberra United Academy dominated in the U/17’s against Canberra Olympic, with the hosts only able to hold out for short periods of time.
Aurelia Haynes was rarely troubled in the Academy goal, while down the other end the game turned into a procession of scoring, for lack of a better term.
The Academy’s seventh of the game, just before half-time was full of skill and trickery as they breezed through the Olympic defense and fired home to make it 7-0 at the break, before they added two more in the second half to seal the emphatic result.
U/15’s |
Canberra Olympic 0 def. by Canberra United Academy 4 (Nadia Zackman, Tia Burridge, Caitlin Kock (2))
By Tony Choy
Heavy dew on a plush surface at O’Connor Enclosed made for interesting conditions at the start of play, and that affected the Academy midfield, surrendering possession too easily either through less than ideal first touches or inaccurate passing.
Olympic dominated during this period of the game, as evidenced by their superior corner count, while the Academy were determinedly holding out. However, it was the Academy who scored first five minutes before HT via good work from the left with a squared ball to waiting attackers. A deft touch set up the first clinical finish for a goal before the tables turned in the second half.
Canberra United Academy held almost all the aces, particularly on the left side of the field, and scored from set pieces on three occasions. Despite some wastefulness in front of goal, the visitors still recorded a 4-0 win on the day.
All teams will travel to Gissing Oval in Wagga Wagga this weekend to take on the Wagga City Wanderers!
Fixture details are available here.
