Sykes lights up the Canberra gloom.
Canberra United drew 0-0 with Adelaide United in a game shown live on ABC TV ,and called live on 2XX 98.3FM.
A miserable "summers" day kept the crowd down but still over 800 people braved the elements to watch a game, ruined by the referee....
and signs of Capital Punishment, Canberra United, and Brush em off were spread around the ground.
Thea Slatyer was sent-off in the eigth minute for supposedly having studs up. A disappointing decision but there was plenty more inadequate refereeing to come.
Missed fouls, dodgy bookings, an inability to keep the game flowing destroyed the entertainment value.
Having said that the Canberra side worked impressively throughout the game, and still managed to create the most chances, with Ashleigh Sykes turning in a stunning performance in the second half.
Sykes played the lone striker role against a backline that included Matildas Star Di Alagich.
The Dubbo Dasher worked the spaces, held the ball, laid if off well, and took the game to United. She hit the post, set up her team-mates, she was exciting.
Unlucky not to score it's exciting to think Sykes can only get better.
Steph Tokich the Canberra student playing for Adelaide also had a strong game, particularly in the first half.
In fact Coach Robbie Hooker must have been wondering if he'd missed a local player. Her ball control and ability to bring in other players was causing Canberra a number of problems.
Canberra were criticised by some for playing a long ball game against the Mariners, and had to revert to a similar pattern today once Slatyer went off. Grace Gill moved back to defence and adapted superbly but her ball composure were missed in the forward movements, and Sykes was the lone outlet upfront.
And with the amazing work-rate and spirit of this Canberra side the plan nearly worked.
Adelaide had their chances; the main one a long chip from 25 metres in the second half from Sharon Black saw an amazing finger tip save from Matilda keeper Lydia Williams.
But in truth the Canberra defence were strong throughout.
Amy Chapman was buzzing down the right. Cian Maciejewski was powerful again in midfield. Sasha McDonnell played her heart out. Bronwyn Studman was aggressive from full-back.
But you couldn't help thinking the control and skill of Caitlin Munoz is still being missed. Her ability to link with team-mates in the forward third, play with her back to goal and bring in and release others is badly missed.
Adelaide were missing their main strikers and as a result their goal threat was limited.
Canberra will be disappointed to get a draw, even with ten players.
Most teams would be delighted to get a point having to play the game for 82 minutes with 10 players but United played so well and created enough chances to win, I reckon they'll be disappointed.
With a few tough games to come this could be a case of a missed opportunity despite the refereeing decisions.
Player of the match: Ashleigh Sykes.
Pain in the arse...the ref.
24 comments:
Agree, absolutely disgraceful refereeing performance. I don't want to see that ref in the W-League again. That's what happens when they select referees because they are female instead of the best referees available. I wasn't completely sure it was a female for a while though. Ruined the game.
Much better attack than last time though, now if we could only finish...
I can't believe the way the women's game is constantly insulted.
You would never see a boy put in charge of an A League game but in the CU v AU game a clearly young female ref was placed in charge of an elite game and her decisions were poor. A Red is simply not appropriate for a 50/50 ball.(see FFA Report) No doubt the squeals from the AU forward influenced the decision.
This is not a development competiton for players nor should it be one for the refs. W league is serious, it is not netball and our players should not be put in a position where neither side had a clue what the ref was going to call when she blew the whistle (which she did often).
The Ref was very lucky this game did not get totally out of hand, all credit to the players.
Lift your game FFA.
I was at the game and extremely disppointed at the poor standard of refereeing. The game was cruelled in the first 10 minutes with the Red card (ok if it was correct but this was ajoke) and then poor decision after poor decision.
I was also at the game. The referee was absolutely appalling. In no way was the squealing of Tokich worthy of a red card. I hope that ref is accountable for her decision and is returned to a game of her standards.
I though both teams did well under the conditions of the weather and the ref. How good was young Ashleigh Sykes, well done and well done the entire CU team and the supporters.
Canberra's weakness up front was shown again - 4 goals in 5 games.
Studs up in the Aleague get you a RED, so what makes this league different. 50/50? Only one player went for the ball the other player left her boot tattoo firmly etched into the side of the knee.
You shouldnt confuse Karate with Football.
im a local coach her in canberra for a womens team at tugg united went to the game, it was a great game, horrible weather, great battles, but Inappropriate chants to the canberra adelaide girl i dont know her personally but the chants sung by the canberra lepricorns should not have been sung just lucky the camera wasn't near to hear. "stephanie tokich, you canberra reject".
Its good to see as many girls out playing at this level no matter where they're from and who they are playing for and they all deserve support and should not be put down like this weekend. in the qld v cu game there were chants sung out to goalkeeper lydia williams from what i read in the paper, hypocrits.
didnt thea slatyer do the same thing to jenna tristan from QLD roar knee? both players had knee problems from previous games and both were targeted.. any link ???
How about some credit for 8 defensive players and great goalkeeper (across the 5 games so far) whose average age is just over 19! Second best defence in the league, win & move the ball forward to allow chance after chance to midfielders and attackers.
There is no use in getting forward if you don't know what to do with the ball when you get there. Sykes needs some lessons on how to score. Only 4 goals in 5 games. Pretty poor scoring. But only 4 goals against CU in 5 games. How about some credit for the defenders. It is all about the forwards getting forward. No one is mentioning the fantastic job the defenders are doing. Particularly on Saturday with our best defender out of the game. Come on lets try and be fair about it. It is a TEAM OF 11, not jsut the few strikers doinga poor job. Let's talk about the defenders for a change.
Absolutely I agree. Lets give credit to the defenders. It is a team of 11 on the field and a squad of 20. I am getting sick of seeing photos of SYkes, Brush, McDonnell etc on the CU website. How about sharing it around and having photos of all the girls in action. After all, the forwards should be ashamed of themselves for their poor performance. Lets give the credit to the defenders for a change.
We're only five games in...how can you be sick of seeing any player...
wait until you they've been covered as much as Stirling Mortlock or Todd Carney....then it might be time to get sick of em...
as for being ashamed of themselves...Ashleigh Sykes is 17 and she's played about 3 games or parts of games at this level.
She has nothing, neither do the others to be ashamed of.
Isn't it great to see a team playing, the players working so hard for each other,and individuals like Kiting, Brush, Gill, Sykes and others developing....
Whole team is doing well, and a couple of goals would cheer up the rather fragile fan base it seems but I'm quite happy to see the team continues it
s journey...with or without a ton of goals.
could be worse you could be Perth:)...or even Adelaide...does anyone remember they had 11?
let's get over the Sykes Brush Gill fixation. What about Walters and Studman (younger than SYkes) who are both Young Matilda players? THey have both played full games for the games they have been available for. THey are doing well. What about Allan and Bissett?
THe girls are trying very hard I do agree. But this is a serious elite tournament and the 10 week season is too short for 'development' of players. "developing" Kiting has let in about 2 or 3 of the goals against us through silly errors that shouldn't happen in U17 let alone elite football.
All I say is give the whole team credit for what they have done. All the forwards need to lift their game and we might do a bit better.
Well IMO the midfield is working well (Majieski, Chapman, Gill) Brush and Slatyer solid in defence and the young ones supporting there are going ok. Of the 4 goals 3 were total clangers.
Sykes is working hard but technique lets her down. The real problem... The Queensalnd blonde bomshells have not yet lived up to expectations and maybe those expectations were too high.
At this stage we do not have a true striker on the pitch with both Munoz and Crawford yet to contribute.
A 10 week season is too short. I would love to see how the team is going in February with the full complement of 'senior' players playing.
BTW Gill was a Young Matildas defender (russia)and should be able to play in defence. She is better defnder than a midfileder.
I agree, these Queensland girls should be doing a lot more than they are. Not only are they taking the place of local players but they are not playing as well as they have been made out to be. Maybe more time training and trying and less night life???
Canberras best player IMO is Lydia Williams. With any other goalie on the weekend the scoreline would have been very different. What about the shots from the 38 year old from Adelaide, Sharon Black. She still ripped the defence of youngsters. Ellie Brush also struggled to keep Tokich at bay.
Great entertaining game despite the freezing cold weather.
OK I agree lydia is good but her job is to stop goals. She didn't have that many to stop on the weekend (thank you mid field and defence) and in fact her time at the back has been reasonably quiet.
Against CM one of the goals was a total defensive error including the GK.
We have a young backline, I would like to hear her organising a bit more as some times the young players seem lost. That is also a keepers job.
Jeff no members of the United Leprechauns were involved in any chants towards Stephanie Tokich.
Members of the Leprechauns are involved in many different areas of local football and are only at the matches to support everyone involved.
Oh dear, perth game going to be interesting. No Majieski, Slatyer, Davies?, Munoz. Maybe Crawford but will she be ready? Does anyone know anythng about her? Will Chrissy be back, maybe she could go forward as I think she would be good there?
Well, I disagree that Lydia didn't have much to do - Adelaide had a clear shot in the goal square she saved and another where the 38 year old Adealide striker ran around the Canberra defence and tried to chip her - that was an excellent save. While we did hit the post with our only real shot at goal Canberra could easily have l;ost 2-1.
I thought it was entertaining game to watch despite the freezing weather and goal less draw. Good luck to the ladies in Green in Perth. With so many out due to suspension and injury,it would be a great oppurtunity for some of the outer squad to come in and play at this level.
To Anononymus...
Just leave Ellie, Ashleigh & Grace alone! I dont care what pictures Canberra United put up on their site, be thankful Canberra actually has a W-League team.
I think Ashleigh, Ellie & Grace are SUPERB players & im happy seeing pictures of them. :)
(Not to sound mean, but what's the big deal?)
To Anononymus...
Just leave Ellie, Ashleigh & Grace alone! I dont care what pictures Canberra United put up on their site, be thankful Canberra actually has a W-League team.
I think Ashleigh, Ellie & Grace are SUPERB players & im happy seeing pictures of them. :)
(Not to sound mean, but what's the big deal?)
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