A-Leagues United Round: Jets beat Roar 2-1, Canberra beat Adelaide 3-1, Mariners win 2-1 over Phoenix, Victory draw with Glory 1-1
A fiery clash between the Roar and Jets in the A-League Women’s is one Matilda Tameka Yallop will want to forget. Follow results from Unite Round matches here.
Football
Don't miss out on the headlines from Football. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Tameka Yallop’s 150th A-League match will be one she will likely want to forget – with her own-goal sealing the 2-1 win for Newcastle Jets at Leichhardt Oval.
After a lacklustre first half from both teams fans had plenty to cheer about in the action-packed second half.
Yallop came close to taking a goal in the 51st minute but it was blocked by Jets keeper Isobel Nino who had denied the Matildas midfielder already this clash.
Five minutes later Roar’s Leah Scarpelli hit the deck hard after a nasty collision with Jets’ Lauren Allan – the landing took the wind out of Scarpelli and the crowd who sat in silence waiting for the medical staff to help her up. She recovered quickly and bravely returned to the field.
It sparked a new level of physicality between the teams with Roar’s Holly McQueen being given a straight red after a tackle against Lorena Baumann just minutes later.
Brisbane Roar, who had been gaining momentum now had to face the last 30 minutes with just 10 players on the field.
Jets were quick to capitalise with super striker Sarina Bolden not missing her first clear chance on goal for the night.
But their 1-0 lead was short lived with Brisbane Roar attacking straight away. Yallop gifted the ball to Mia Corbin who drove the ball into the top left corner – once again levelling the scores.
Despite having just 10 players on the field Roar maintained their attacking style of play – not content to settle for a draw.
Roar took another blow when defender Kijah Stephenson was helped off the field with a possible knee injury in the 74th minute.
Jets took advantage of the commotion with Mindi Barbieri’s corner kick deflecting off Yallop into the goal putting them up 2-1 with 15 minutes left to play.
It’s a good win for the Jets who have been very inconsistent these past five weeks with two wins, two losses and a draw.
Unite Round: ALW stalwart finally breaks goalscoring record
Canberra United stalwart Michelle Heyman has etched her name in the record books as the first player to score 101 A-League women’s goals with her match winning brace against Adelaide United.
Heyman only needed one to take the record – a feat she had been trying to achieve for the past three games.
The former Matildas striker took her time to get the goal everyone was waiting for with several chances in the first half falling short.
“I just wanted it done,” Heyman said.
“I knew it was going to happen as soon as I got one through ball. It is very simple when you just have control and stay calm.
“I’m not one to care about that kind of thing but everyone else had been going on about for a long time and kept asking me the same question, it was starting to get to me because in my mind all I wanted was the three points.”
Adelaide United were first to break the 0-0 deadlock when Isabel Hodgson scored a screamer just 45 seconds into the second half.
Canberra responded straight away with Heyman scoring her first of the night just four minutes later.
The crowd erupted and were still celebrating the record-breaking goal when Heyman knocked her second past Adelaide keeper Annalee Grove.
Heyman’s 100th goal had been a long time coming with the striker making her A-Leagues debut in 2014. It is an impressive feat when you consider the league had eight games, plus finals, a season when Heyman first joined.
Her last three seasons prove Heyman, 35, is just getting better year after year – scoring 12 goals last year and 9 the year before.
She now has seven against her name this season – making her a contender for the golden boot.
Adelaide really struggled to regain control of the game and it only got harder for them when super striker Vesna Milijevic knocked in Canberra’s third for the night.
It was an exciting second half after what was a tightly contested opening 45 minutes.
Adelaide had been the better side on paper in the first half with more shots on goal, more possession and cleaner passes – but Canberra keeper Chloe Lincoln denied every chance they got.
The win is a big boost for Canberra who went into the match winless from their last five outings.
It pulls them up from 12th place into 11th – bumping Adelaide down to the bottom.
Unite Round: Huge boost for Mariners as Phoenix slump continues
Central Coast have made it two from two against Wellington Phoenix this season with a clinical 2-1 win at Leichhardt Oval.
It is a huge boost for the Mariners who last week held reigning premiers Sydney FC to a 0-0 draw.
The Mariners were slow to fire at the inaugural Unite Round clash with a poor clearance from goalkeeper Casey Dumont gifting Emma Main a goal just three minutes into the game.
Mariners, who were missing captain Taren King due to injury and star signing Kyah Simon still not match fit, didn’t take long to get back in the fight.
American import Rola Badawiya led the charge for the Mariners – getting three shots away in fairly quick succession.
Wellington didn’t seem to pick up on her as a threat though, letting her dictate the play.
Badawiya got the ball at her feet in the box, turned two Phoenix players inside out before casually slotting the ball past keeper Rylee Foster into the far corner of the net.
Just 10 minutes later, Mariners Peta Trimis managed to dart past the defenders and pick up a perfect pass from Shadeene Evans – her sharp shooting gave Foster little chance of getting her gloves on the ball.
Mariners went into the halftime break up 2-1.
The second half was a tough battle with Phoenix working very hard to find a way back into the game.
Foster, who has made some errors and taken a confidence hit in recent weeks, put on one of her best performances of the season – making seven saves and keeping the score from blowing out.
Both sides started to show their frustration in the later parts of the match and the referee was forced to pull out her yellow card several times to try and keep the players in check.
The loss is not great for Wellington Phoenix who have now lost three in a row – a big slump from their impressive form at the start of the season. They are still hanging onto fourth spot on the ladder but will likely drop outside the top six by the time the round finishes on Sunday night.
WASTEFUL VICTORY MADE TO PAY BY GLORY
Melbourne Victory will rue another missed chance to get back in the winner’s circle, squandering several chances to end the 1-1 deadlock with Perth Glory at Leichhardt Oval.
Both sides went into the opening clash of the inaugural Unite Round, on a serious losing streak. The physicality of the game proved just how much both sides wanted to celebrate a win.
Victory struck first, before Glory levelled early in the second half.
But once again the Melbourne outfit failed to capitalise on the many chances created by Matildas midfielder Alex Chidiac.
Going into the game Victory had lost its last three while Perth, after winning its first four games, had won just two of its last seven.
Victory dominated the first half and deserved to be the first with points on the board with an unmarked Rachel Lowe having no trouble putting a beautiful cross from Jamila Rankin into the back of the net just before the 30-minute mark.
Glory had just four shots to Victory’s seven in the first half — none of them challenging injury replacement keeper Courtney Newborn, who made her starting side debut with Lydia Williams sidelined.
Chidiac was back in the starting side for Victory and showed she is quickly regaining the form she had lost due to lack of minutes with her US-and-Mexico-based clubs.
The tables turned in the second half with Glory looking like the better team.
Victory were stretched and their attempts at goal slowed.
Glory managed to level the scores on the back of a glorious corner from Hana Lowry.
Lowry wasn’t given credit for the shot though, which landed in the back off the net off Rankin’s head in a scramble on the goal line.
Chidiac had a cracking attempt at goal in the 75th minute — and if it had been any other A-Leagues’ women’s keeper in between the sticks it would have put Victory in front.
But, Glory’s Morgan Aquino is just too good and knocked it over the crossbar with insane reflexes.
An off-side call to Victory’s Emily Gielnik saw another chance to take the lead go begging.
Chidiac soaked up the pressure as the clock wound down, stealing the ball off the Glory midfielders with ease.
She played a key role in creating several more chances for Victory but it was like Aquino’s gloves had ball magnets sewn into them.
The game got scrappy in the added five minutes — with both sides making rash tackles out of desperation.
Victory had several late chances but couldn’t convert and were again left frustrated.
A-LEAGUES BOSS HAILS SYDNEY ‘FOOTBALL PILGRIMAGE’
The games haven’t kicked off yet and ticket sales remain a mystery but the A-League boss has already deemed the inaugural Unite Round a success.
All 12 men’s and women’s A-Leagues sides will gather in Sydney this weekend for the football festival – with 12 games played across three days and three different stadiums.
The round was handed to the New South Wales government to replace the grand final which it had bought the rights to.
It was a move that backfired with fans protesting the decision to take a home grand final away from the team that earned it and moving it to Sydney.
To get the fans back on side APL struck a new deal to bring all the clubs together for the Unite Round.
A-Leagues Commissioner Nick Garcia couldn’t be pushed to reveal how many tickets had been sold just that “tickets are selling strongly”.
Garcia couldn’t provide details on if the ticket sales had been evenly split across the men’s and women’s matches.
He said there would be a strong walk-up crowd and people could buy weekend passes – which made it hard to tell which games would prove most popular.
NSW Tourism Minister John Graham said 42,000 people were expected to travel from interstate and New Zealand to support their teams.
“We are really looking to make this good for tourism … and what will become a football pilgrimage each year,” Graham said.
A-Leagues stalwart Maria Rojas said it was a big step for women to be included alongside the men.
“To be part of the first one makes me proud,” Rojas said.
“It’s been nine years in Australia and I have seen more steps to develop the league. It has improved so much.
“I’m looking forward to seeing how many people come to watch because no matter where you are from, no matter what language you speak, it is football. It connects people all around the world.
“Football is such a beautiful part of some countries and I think it is coming here to Australia. People are loving the game much, much more.”
Rojas grew up in Chile where football was simply part of life.
This season is Rojas’ ninth in the A-League and it is her second stint with Canberra United. She has played for Melbourne City, Sydney FC and Adelaide United.
The forward is also one of the most capped Chilean women’s players with 44 appearances and 11 goals.
“Growing up in Chile, football is the most important sport,” Rojas said.
“I didn’t know about any other sport but football, playing on the streets and then being able to do that freely because times were different.
“We had a lot of time to just play, you develop different skills.”
Rojas is only just getting back on the pitch after suffering a knee injury in round 3 against Perth Glory but unlike the six other A-League women’s players with knee injuries this season, Rojas did her MCL – the much less evil cousin of the ACL.
Rojas was back on the field three weeks ago, albeit playing limited minutes off the bench.
It still beats the nine to 12 months her fellow players will need to recover.
“It is frustrating because it’s something that I couldn’t control,” Rojas said. “A player landed on my knee.”
Canberra has had a bye and a match postponed due to grounds being unavailable, so Rojas has only missed three of Canberra’s 10 games.
She has slowly built up her on-field minutes over the past three matches and is keen to get back into the starting side.
Rojas said injuries were part of football and nothing to do with her age.
“The age that I am and how my body feels doesn’t make sense,” Rojas said.
“I do look after my body, I’ve always been very disciplined. I do recovery, whatever I need to do for it. But I’m feeling good.
“I’m very happy where I am at the moment coming back from my injury. It’s looking good. “I’m training more and I just need to keep improving. There are no limitations on what you can do, you just keep getting better and better and growing as a person and an athlete.”
Rojas’ presence back on the field might be just what Canberra United needs to get some wins on the board and move off the bottom of the ladder.
The side has struggled to close out close matches to have an equal league-high five draws and just one win.
However, Canberra has scored the second-highest number of goals behind league leader Melbourne City.
It has matched it with the best in the league and only lost by a goal to Melbourne City and Perth Glory.
Rojas said a win was all the side needed to get back on track.
Canberra won’t get a better opportunity than in Unite Round against Adelaide this weekend.
Last time the teams met it ended in a 4-4 draw.
Adelaide is just one point ahead of Canberra on the ladder with seven loses this season.
“Every single team is difficult,” Rojas said. “You have to show up and do your best.
“We unfortunately didn’t have a great start to the season. Some of them we could have won.
“We couldn’t get those three points and that was disappointing for the team because we know how hard we work as individuals and as a group.
“We all want to win. We are focusing on our next game and making it happen and trying to get those three points.”
Rojas has seen many positive changes in the A-League during her nine seasons, including the introduction of wages, salaries increasing from $60 a week, quality fields to play on and now a full home-and-away season.
Want she wants to see next is full-time contracts.
All A-League men’s and women’s teams will gather in Sydney this weekend for the inaugural Unite Round.
Canberra United will play Adelaide United on Saturday at 5pm (AEDT).
More Coverage
Originally published as A-Leagues United Round: Jets beat Roar 2-1, Canberra beat Adelaide 3-1, Mariners win 2-1 over Phoenix, Victory draw with Glory 1-1
Brazilian star ready for Sky Blues debut
Sydney FC is intent on growing its ‘brand’ and ‘reputation’ throughout Asia with good performances that will also reward the Sky Blues financially.
A-League Women: 20+ NSW/ACT teenagers set to star in new season
The new Ninja A-League Women season is weeks away and there’s never been more young talent scorching the turf. Check out 20+ teenagers set to light up the league this season.