This season’s Round Eight in the Westfield W-League only saw three matches, giving three teams bye-weeks teams shuffled around in standings and Perth Glory and Melbourne City finished up the weekend with the round’s - perhaps even the season’s - most exciting second half.

Sydney FC stay high with win over Brisbane Roar

Hosts Sydney FC were able to take the three points over visitors Brisbane Roar to open the weekend. With three yellow cards shown in a span of 20 minutes, the win didn’t come easy by any means. As the teams entered halftime they were both still scoreless. Sydney FC was rewarded for their offensive efforts in the 54th minute when Princess Ibini found the lower left corner of the net.

Sydney FC will take on city rivals Western Sydney Wanderers next week while Brisbane Roar has a bye week.

First half action for Newcastle Jets and Western Sydney Wanderers

The game was decided for the Newcastle Jets and Western Sydney Wanderers within the first 45 minutes of play. Only eight minutes into the match, the Jets found the back on the net by way of Jenna Kingsley. The Wanderers wouldn’t let the lead sit for long, and they quickly tied it all up in the 12th minute with a goal from Washington Spirit forward Katie Stengel. The two teams continued to go back and forth, with Wanderer Caitlin Cooper receiving a yellow card in the 22nd minute for a handball.

The Wanderers celebrating Stengel's goal. | Source: @WSWanderersFC

Stengel proved to be hero for the Wanderers, putting her team up by one in the 30th minute. Neither team was able to score the remainder of the match, though things did get chippy with four more players receiving yellows throughout the match. With the win, the Wanderers are just out of playoff position at fifth.

Next week the Western Sydney Wanderers will host Sydney FC and the jets will travel to take on Adelaide United.

Melbourne City falls to Perth Glory in thrilling second half

In what may have been the most exciting match of the weekend, Perth Glory took three points from last year’s champions Melbourne City in order to propel themselves to first place in the league. Neither team was able to gain full control in the first half, and it mainly resulted in yellow cards for Perth’s Nikki Stanton and Natasha Rigby. Despite the fouls, Perth was able to start the second half with a bang.

Jess Fishlock dribbles through Perth's defenders. | Source: Darrian Traynor - Getty Images

Two minutes in, Rosie Sutton put the visitors on board to give them the lead. Melbourne wouldn’t let it sit, and in the 60th minute they were able to equalize via Jess Fishlock, who volleyed the ball inside the box. They scored once again 12 minutes later, this time with Aivi Luik. Five minutes later, Sam Kerr leveled the score for Perth and two minutes later Melbourne’s Lauren Barnes received her second yellow of the half and was ejected from the match. Kerr would earn herself a brace with less than five minutes to go and give her team the game-winning goal to collect the three full three points.

Next week, both Melbourne City and Perth Glory will have a bye-week. The full schedule can be found on the W-League website.

VAVEL Logo
About the author