Few sights could be as daunting for a rival team as glancing to the opposition bench and seeing the W-League's all-time leading goal scorer.
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Spare a thought for the Wagga City Wanderers, because that's exactly what they got when Michelle Heyman made her debut for Gungahlin United on Sunday.
Heyman scored on debut for Gungahlin United as they completed a resounding 4-0 win over the Wanderers in their Capital Football Premier League clash at Gungahlin Enclosed Oval on Sunday.
It marked her first appearance since missing Canberra United's W-League semi-final with a quadriceps injury in early April.
Gungahlin coach Diego Iglesias had long maintained the club would avoid rushing Heyman onto the park. Instead, they would wait for her body to be right. There was no sense in pushing her back onto the field before she was ready.
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The wait proved to be worth every second as the W-League sensation found the back of the net from an Erika Pennyfield corner soon after making her way into the contest.
Pennyfield seemed to have the magic touch from the corner on Sunday - once her boot led to a Maddie Perceval goal, and soon after Jade Brown reaped the rewards of another.
A few suburbs away Gungahlin's men's side claimed a 4-0 win of their own as Philippe Bernabo-Madrid's first half hat-trick steered laid the platform for a comprehensive rout of Canberra Olympic at the AIS Synthetic Field.
The renowned sharpshooter capped off a superb piece of play to score Gungahlin's first, and within minutes he had his second as Olympic struggled to clear the ball.
His third came in the 39th minute to leave Olympic searching for a second half miracle if they were to spark a reversal of their fortunes.
But Roy Anderson soon put the result beyond doubt with a 54th-minute strike to stretch the margin to four goals and help his side leapfrog Olympic on the competition ladder.
It was the perfect way to cap off a memorable day for the club which sheer numbers suggest couldn't have been sweeter.
AT A GLANCE
Capital Football Premier League round 10 - Women's: GUNGAHLIN UNITED 4 (Jade Brown 2, Maddie Perceval, Michelle Heyman goals) bt WAGGA CITY WANDERERS 0 at Gungahlin Enclosed Oval.
Men's: GUNGAHLIN UNITED 4 (Philippe Bernabo-Madrid 3, Roy Anderson goals) bt CANBERRA OLYMPIC 0 at AIS Synthetic Field.
Caden Helmers
Caden Helmers is a sports journalist for The Canberra Times.
Caden Helmers is a sports journalist for The Canberra Times.
