It’s finally here! Round 1 of the Westfield W-League kicks off this weekend, and Canberra United will head South thanks to JT Sports Tours to face Melbourne Victory at Epping Stadium looking to begin the season on the right foot.
United will begin the season as reigning Premiers and be eager to defend that crown under the watchful eye of new Head Coach Heather Garriock.
A number of players will be away on Young Matildas duty, meaning Lauren Keir, Jasmine Maguire and Isobel Davy all come into the squad as local replacements for the trip to Melbourne.
Co-captains Ashleigh Sykes and Michelle Heyman will both make the trip to Melbourne, and will prove a big danger to the Victory backline. Heyman makes her W-League return after suffering a nasty ankle injury against the Victory in December last year, and will be raring to go after a strong pre-season.
Experienced international Kendall Fletcher also joins the fray for this match, and if she features in midfield she will be a handful with her skill and physicality. United’s experienced international backline will aim to lock down the brilliant Natasha Dowie who is back with the Victory for Season 10 with Haley Kopmeyer marshalling the defence from between the sticks.
Past Matches
We faced Victory twice in Season 9, both home and away. In December at AAMI Park, it took a come from behind effort and a late penalty from Ashleigh Sykes to secure three points, while in the last round of the league a dominant 5-1 victory helped us to claim our third Westfield W-League Premiership at McKellar Park.
Overall (18 games): W9–D3–L6 Goals For: 26 Goals Against: 21
From the Coach
“It’s exciting. There’s nothing better than having a last training session before a big game, especially tomorrow where we have been preparing for it for 4-5 weeks.”
“The young girls have worked really hard. I’ve said all week that when you work hard you get your rewards.”
“From my perspective, yes we are missing a lot of players, but in saying that I’m very confident with the personnel that we are playing with this weekend.”
Match Details
Saturday, 28 October 2017
Melbourne Victory v Canberra United
Epping Stadium, Epping
Kick-Off: 4:30pm (Local) (4:30pm (AEDT))
Referee: Rebecca Durcau
Assistant Referee 1: Laura Moya
Assistant Referee 2: Joanna Charaktis
Fourth Official: Danielle Anderson
Join the conversation on Twitter using the hash-tag #WLeague #YGHAT
Melbourne Victory squad: 1.Casey DUMONT (gk), 2.Whitney KNIGHT, 3.ALEX GUMMER, 5.Laura ALLEWAY, 8.Angela BEARD, 9.Natasha DOWIE, 10.Kyra COONEY-CROSS, 11.Melinda.J BARBIERI, 13.Laura SPIRANOVIC, 16.Lia PRIVITELLI, 17.Gulcan KOCA, 18.Tiffany ELIADIS, 19.Kristen MCNABB, 20.Bethany MASON-JONES (gk), 31.Christina GIBBONS
Unavailable: 6.Annabel MARTIN (international duty) 14.Melina Ayres (international duty) 7.JEON Ga Eul (awaiting clearance)
Canberra United squad: 1.Haley KOPMEYER, 3.Toni PRESSLEY, 8.Liana DANASKOS, 13.Lauren KEIR, 14.Ashleigh SYKES, 15.Sarah MORGAN, 16.Karly REOSTBAKKEN, 17.Madelyn WHITTALL, 18.Taren KING, 19.Aoife COLVILL, 22.Jasmine MAGUIRE, 23.Michelle HEYMAN, 24.Kendall FLETCHER, 34.Laura BASSETT, 35.Isobel DAVY
Unavailable: Ellie CARPENTER (International Duty – 1 week), Grace MAHER (International Duty – 1 week), Georgia BORIC (International Duty – 1 week), Georgia PLESSAS (International Duty – 1 week), Bethany GORDON (International Duty – 1 week), Amy SAYER (International Duty – 1 week), Nickoletta FLANNERY (Injured – Foot), Clare HUNT (Injured – Foot), Caitlin MUNOZ (Injured – Knee)
How to Watch
The league today announced the details for international viewers in countries where there are no current broadcast deals (ie the rest of the world).
Season 10 matches will be broadcast via https://www.oz.com.
Oz is a new pay-per-view platform for the W-League and will be streaming all the broadcast matches live.
For the Aussies, follow @canberraunited on Twitter for live updates throughout the match, and join us in conversation. We’ll have Gameday content on Snapchat (@canberraunited), Instagram (@canberraunited) and Facebook (Canberra United W-League) too.
