Three goals, a clean sheet and three points for Belconnen United FC is putting further pressure on ladder leaders Canberra Croatia FC heading into the final third of the NPLW season.
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Former West Canberra Wanderers FC defender Tiana Jaber made all the difference on Sunday to get Belconnen's goal-scoring venture started, after making a run from central defence to slot in her teammate.
Jaber made the move to premiership hopefuls Belconnen mid-season and has not looked back.
However, it did take until the 28th minute for United to open the scoring at Melrose. The W-League player went on a run from centre back, beating three Wanderers players and drawing the attention of the defence to herself, before playing in an unmarked Keira Bobbin in the six-yard box to touch it home.
Belconnen's second came five minutes later, building off a throw in from defender Leah Carnegie to catch the Wanderers defence off guard again. Midfielder Oliva Bomford used the momentum from the throw to turn and play a through ball into Talia Backhouse to fire into the back of the net, making it 2-0.
One of United's top goalscorers, Bobbin, said they identified early that the Wanderers liked to play narrow and sought out to counteract it as they look to continue their push for first.
"They play very narrow and tight so we used our wingers and our defenders to really push up the line that way," she said.
"We had a lot of chances, we didn't get all the goals from the chances but it was very good to see us play that well.
"It was also very important to come away with a clean sheet and the three points, and also to work on our goal difference to get as many goals as we can just to keep that high on the ladder."
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The visitors third began with another throw in. Vanessa Ryan threw the ball into Reilly Yuen, who beat three defenders to cut it back to an unmarked Bobbin. The striker made no mistake, placing it bottom left to increase their lead to 3-0 a minute into the second half.
The clean sheet was courtesy of United's backline lead by Jaber and Isabella Tammaro, and goalkeeper Cristina Esposito.
A postponed fixture for Croatia in round 14, due to ground closures, allowed Belconnen to move to equal points on the ladder.
Despite the match's postponement, Croatia remain first on goal difference, with a six goal lead over United.
AT A GLANCE
NPLW results for round 14:
Canberra Olympic FC def Tuggeranong United FC 4-0
Canberra United Academy def Wagga City Wanderers FC 6-0
Gungahlin United FC v Canberra Croatia FC postponed
Isobel Cootes
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
