Table topping Perth Glory provides the opposition for Canberra United in Round 5 of the Westfield W-League.
Westfield W-League
Round 5
Saturday 11th October 2014
Perth Glory v Canberra United
Table topping Perth Glory provides the opposition for Canberra United in Round 5 of the Westfield W-League and with the Western Australians in red hot form this will be a real examination of Canberra’s title credentials.
Perth head into the match having won all four of their games played to date, the latest a 10-1 annihilation of Western Sydney Wanderers last weekend. Striker Katie Gill netted five times in that match and, unsurprisingly after that haul, leads the Westfield W-League Golden Boot race with eight goals in her first four outings of 2014.
Gill is ably abetted by the speed and skill of Samantha Kerr who has returned to the Glory this season after a stint at Sydney FC and with Collette McCallum pulling the strings from s deep-lying midfield position, the Glory have plenty of aces in their pack as they look to take three points from Canberra United for the first time in the history of the competition.
In the ten previous meetings between these two clubs, United has won seven and drawn three with Perth still chasing that elusive first win. Indeed, only once in the last eight matches have the Glory come away from the fixture with anything other than a loss, with the 3-3 draw in Western Australia in December 2012 their brightest moment in this match-up since a pair of 2-2 draws in Season 1.
This will be Canberra’s fifth visit to Perth with the previous trips resulting in two wins and two draws, the most recent being a 2-0 win in December last year when goals from Ashleigh Sykes and Stephanie Ochs earned Canberra an important three points at Intiga Stadium in Ingelwood. This was the infamous match that was delayed due to Nicole Sykes (now Begg) injury her hand in a freak accident with a cooling fan before kick-off.
So whilst history would favour an away win, this Perth Glory team appears to be in much better shape to push for the silverware than ever before. The Glory has only tasted finals football once in six seasons, that being in Season 5 when they finished the regular season in second place only to be beaten on penalties by Melbourne Victory in the semi-finals.
For United to prevail every member of the travelling party will have to be at the top of their game. The win over Brisbane Roar in Round 4 was a welcome return to the winner’s enclosure for the green team following the disappointment of defeat to Melbourne Victory. A new formation worked wonders for Elisabeth Migchelsen and her team and the confidence gained from that performance will do them good heading into a real clash of the titans.
SQUAD
1. Chantel JONES, 2. Catherine BROWN, 3. Julia DE ANGELIS, 4. Kendall FLETCHER, 5. Grace FIELD, 6. Caitlin MUNOZ, 7. Ellie BRUSH, 9. Grace GILL, 10. Grace MAHER, 11. Michelle HEYMAN, 12. Sally ROJAHN, 13. Nicole BEGG, 14. Ashleigh SYKES, 16. Lori LINDSEY, 17. Holly HOUSTON, 18. Rebecca KITING, 20. Melissa MAIZELS, 22. Stephanie OCHS
UNAVAILABLE: 8. Meg McLAUGHLIN (injured, 6-8 weeks)
