Matildas young and senior deliver promise as Glory’s struggles continue through international break
Perth Glory slumped to their fourth consecutive defeat while a teenage Wanderers prospect showed what she could do on the international stage.
Western Sydney Wanderers academy player Alara Turkkan just might have what the first team side needs: goals.
While Amy Sayer, Hayley Raso, Kyra Cooney-Cross, Ellie Carpenter and Katrina Gorry were thumping in goals for the Matildas on Friday night during the international break, it only took Turkkan three minutes to do the same for the Junior Matildas in their corresponding game v Thailand.
In a young Aussie side full of A-League Women’s stars, Turkkan was the shining light with a perfectly timed run to receive an attacking ball before a cut back on the inside to power her shot home.
Her performance against Thailand comes off the back of a massive season helping the Wanderers Girls academy to the u16s NPLW Youth title in September.
The promising footballer has long been considered a future star for the Wanderers and her time might be on the horizon.
In a season where the side currently sit second to last and have only managed three goals so far, Wanderers fans can hold out hope for special things to come in the A-League.
VICTORY TRIUMPH LEAVES GLORY SCRAMBLING
If there was any team that would have welcomed the international break, it was Perth Glory.
The chance to recoup and reassess their start to the season after three successive defeats would have been the much better alternative. Instead, it became four in a row at the hands of Victory.
Things looked stable for the purple outfit for the first 20 minutes before American Kennedy White broke the deadlock.
A missed open goal could’ve levelled the playing field again, but Perth’s mistakes lead to Victory’s punishment with two back-to-back goals in quick succession to end the first half and kill off the game early.
Glory coach Stephen Peters says this period has been his toughest as coach of Perth and that his side must “stave off the infection.”
Coming into the back end of the year, the first remedy must be defence.
Conceding 12 goals in five matches has killed off Perth’s chances of staying in games, creating extra legwork for up front stars Rola Badawiya, Emma Tovar and their attackers to keep their side competitive on the scoreboard.
Despite the concerns, there were positives to take from Glory including Australia u23’s star Georgia Cassidy’s return from injury off the bench and Ella Lincoln’s first start, but it’s back to the drawing board for Peters.
After four away games in five rounds, getting the next run of matches right will be crucial to turning Glory’s season around.
“You’re only one result away from turning things around,” Peters said post-game.
Thankfully for them, a bye next week followed by six home games in eight weeks should give them a massive boost and the chances they need to do just that.
Originally published as Matildas young and senior deliver promise as Glory’s struggles continue through international break
