Adelaide City teenager scores six goals in a top flight game for the second time this season, veteran’s campaign ends in injury and Reds’ fans elect their new captain
A teenage soccer star has scored six goals in a top flight game for the second time this season, while a veteran’s season ends in injury and Reds’ fans elect their new captain, all in 90 Minutes
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Six goals in a game is a remarkable effort for any soccer player.
But doing it twice in the same top-flight season, like Chelsie Dawber, is practically unheard of.
The forward achieved the feat on Friday night, when she bagged half-a-dozen strikes in Adelaide City’s 10-1 thumping of FFSA’s National Training Centre.
It came just six weeks after the 19-year-old had plundered the same tally in a 9-0 Women’s National Premier Leagues SA trouncing of Salisbury Inter.
“My goal for the season was to get a goal-a-game, not six,” said Dawber, who previously spent six years in the federation’s development system.
“But it was a good feeling and it’s always good to get goals against your old team.
“To be honest, my first goal was with the worst penalty I’ve ever taken in my entire life, but after the second one I was like ‘yeah, I can do this’.
“All my goals are a credit to my team’s success and their build-up play.
“I’m just the one on the end of the ball.”
Dawber grabbed her first goal with a 16th-minute spot kick, after having a pair of early strikes chalked off for offside and the ball going out of play during the build-up.
She added another three in the first half, smashed in a long-range free kick after the break for her fifth and rounded out her haul with a cool finish 10 minutes from time.
It took Dawber’s season total to 25 strikes in 14 games and moved her eight clear at the top of the league’s scoring charts.
The Australian youth international hoped her efforts would inspire table-topper City to a treble of trophies, after the reigning WNPL SA champion missed last year’s cup final.
She was also targeting more game time with Adelaide United, given stress fractures in her shins restricted her to just 11 minutes of W-League action this past campaign.
“It’s been a good year so far,” said Dawber, who also struggled with hip and knee problems last year, and sat out 2016 due to post-concussion syndrome.
“This is the first season where I’ve not been injured and I’ve played week-in-week-out.
“I’ve done the right thing, going to the gym and doing all the training, and hopefully it stays that way.
“Ideally I’s like to start and play every game in the W-League (this coming summer).
“It’s something I missed out on unfortunately last year, but hopefully this year I can continue my form and perform in the W-League.”
Season over for Black and White
ADELAIDE City veteran Adriano Pellegrino has been ruled out for the rest of the National Premier Leagues SA season after sustaining a serious injury.
The former Adelaide United and Perth Glory playmaker broke his forearm in an awkward fall during the Black and Whites’ 3-3 draw with Campbelltown City at Newton on Saturday.
Action was halted for 16 minutes early in the second half as Pellegrino received treatment for the fracture, before he was removed from the pitch and taken to hospital.
The ex-Young Socceroo was reportedly in goo spirits and was expected to be released on Tuesday, but would not return to help City’s relegation fight this campaign.
Pellegrino, 35, had only made a playing comeback last month, after initially hanging up his boots at second-tier Western Strikers last season.
The Black and Whites’ senior technical director had played for 14 clubs in his 19-year career, which also included stints in Greece, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand and the US.
Ex-Red on top of world
ABBY Dahlkemper has gone from playing at Adelaide Shores to a becoming a world champion in the space of just three years.
The centre back was a key member of the US side which downed the Netherlands 2-0 in the Women’s World Cup final in Lyon, France, early on Monday morning SA time.
Dahlkemper played every game of the tournament at the heart of defence, as the Americans won seven-straight matches to claim a record fourth title.
The global showpiece was a far cry from the 2015/16 campaign when she spent the summer on loan at Adelaide United from her former US club Western New York Flash.
Dahlkemper played all 12 regular season games and scored five goals for the Reds as they narrowly missed a maiden W-League finals berth.
The 26-year-old had since racked up 47 senior international caps, while plying her trade for National Women’s Soccer League outfit North Carolina Courage.
Supporters elect skipper
CRAIG Goodwin is the runaway fans’ choice to succeed Isaias as Adelaide United captain.
An online poll by The Advertiserrevealed 54 per cent of respondents favoured the SA-born winger to inherit the skipper’s armband from the departed Reds leader this A-League season.
Goodwin attracted 53 per cent of the 105 votes cast by readers to emerge as the frontrunner to become the club’s sixth full-time captain.
The four-cap Socceroo edged out Danish centre back Michael Jakosben (20 per cent) and homegrown defender Jordan Elsey (15) in the poll.
Goalkeeper Paul Izzo (seven) and veteran midfielder Vince Lia (three) made up the remainder of the votes.
The results came as Isaias’ destination was confirmed as Qatari side Al-Wakrah.
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