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W-League power rankings: Round 7

Roar Guru
30th November, 2015
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Roar Guru
30th November, 2015
1

Round 7 of the 2015-16 W-League saw all the home teams lose to their travelling opponents.

Position 1: Canberra United (+2)
A 4-1 win for the girls in green is a fair reflection of how the game was played. Western Sydney were only in it for about 15 minutes, with Canberra playing smart, possession football.

A Kendall Fletcher double either side of halftime and an Ash Sykes thunderbolt gave the girls the win. Special mention for goalie Melissa Maizels, who had two amazing saves to deny Wanders captain Keelin Winters.

Canberra are back at their actual home ground of McKellar Park next week, against Brisbane Roar.

Position 2: Newcastle Jets (+4)
Goals to Adriana Jones, Caprice Dydassco, Jenna Kingsley and Megan Oyster saw Newcastle Jets climb the ladder with a 4-0 win over Brisbane Roar. The Jets will be happy to break their run of draws, and will take the week off with a buzz among the squad.

Position 3: Melbourne City (-2)
Perfect timing for the City girls to have the bye, with the Matildas playing Korea. A drop in the rankings is more a reflection of the Jets and Canberra taking their chances than anything City could control.

They take on Victory next week – an exciting clash given their opponents are starting to find form.

Position 4: Sydney FC (+3)
The Sky Blues put their 0-1 loss to Canberra behind them with a 1-0 victory against Adelaide on Friday night. The lone goal of the match came from Jasmyne Spencer, last season’s top goal-scorer for Sydney.

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The win puts them fourth in the rankings, and on the premiership ladder. They take on WSW next week, in another big match-up.

Position 5: Melbourne Victory (+3)
A 3-1 win – with goals to Hayley Raso, Christine Nairn and Whitney Knight – against the Glory in Perth is a great way to open the account. The girls clearly used the bye to recharge and restart their campaign.

The Victory will be looking to carry that form into next weekend’s match against the undefeated Melbourne City.

Position 6: Perth Glory (-2)
Down 0-2, Carla Bennett found the back of the net in the 84th minute to maybe salvage a point, but it was not to be for Glory. They will be looking at this game as a missed opportunity, losing at home to a team that hadn’t won a game all season.

They head to Adelaide next week, against another team looking to bounce back after a disappointing loss.

Position 7: Western Sydney Wanderers (-5)
Such is the logjam for spots, a win would have seen the Wanderers sit second on the ladder. Instead, continuing the trend of never beating the girls in green, they slide out of the top four, with a danger game looming against their Sydney rivals.

A win and they likely go back in the top four, a loss and they go a game behind and start an uphill battle.

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Position 8: Adelaide United (-3)
Friday night football didn’t agree with the girls, going down 0-1 against Sydney FC. Denied a goal in the 51st by an offside call, the counter-attack strategy didn’t work out for the Lady Reds.

Goalkeeper Kaitlyn Savage did her best between the sticks to deny set pieces from Ellyse Perry and minimise the damage to goal difference.

Position 9: Brisbane Roar (no change)
Missing five regular starting players to international duties and suspension doesn’t help, but other teams had to overcome this same hurdle.

The 0-4 loss was probably not a reflection of the game itself, but at the end of the season they could be looking at this as a ‘what if’ game, especially for goal difference.

Things don’t get any easier for the Roar, with an away game against the in-form Canberra United.

So there we are Roarers, the ladder changes dramatically each week, showing both the competition’s quality and how even it is.

But can anyone catch Melbourne City?

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