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W-League 2015-16: Canberra season review

Roar Guru
28th January, 2016
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The W-League is growing year after year.
Roar Guru
28th January, 2016
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Alas, a back-to-back championship wasn’t on the cards for the girls in green, but it was still an amazing season with plenty of highs and lows.

So sit back and enjoy a review of the Canberra United campaign, from their slow start to controversial finish.

Slow start has Canberra on back foot
I’ve mentioned previously that Lydia Williams wouldn’t want to watch replays of the Brisbane Roar game (which ended up being deciding reason they made finals) but a loss to start the season was never going to be ideal.

They followed it up with a win against Sydney, but then returned serve with a loss to City. The horror start levelling out after a 0-0 draw to Newcastle and finally a return win against Sydney with Nicole Begg finding the net.

Fort McKellar turns around Canberra’s fortune
For non locals, McKellar Park gets resurfaced every year after the winter football season, and was unavailable for Canberra until the middle of the year.

What a difference playing at home made for the girls in green! An average scoreline of 3-0, and never conceding a goal in the regular season at McKellar Park changed their fortunes from P7/8 on the ladder, all the way to a home final.

Controversy costs Canberra
The FFA have come out and said the non-decision by referee Casey Reibelt was wrong and the goal shouldn’t have stood.

What makes this more interesting is it’s not the first time Canberra have had a run in with this referee. Heather Reid speaking with the Canberra Times “The other thing is that perhaps we’d seen this particular referee too many times this season and a different referee might have been better for us because there were other incidents that we’ve had with her so there’s a little bit of history.”

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I’m a referee myself, and I’m not an advocate of ref bashing. I will say that as a supporter, it does appear Canberra definitely don’t get the rub of the green from the refs. However, football is a 90-minute game, and Canberra didn’t score in any of those 90 minutes.

Changing tact a little, and since this is a reflection of the season as a whole, I would like to submit my goal, player and newcomer of the season. The year isn’t defined by one game, and as a whole, the young side has achieved a lot.

Goal of the year: Nicole Begg versus Sydney FC, Round 6
As traditional goal of the years go, this one won’t make the highlight reel. Why I nominate this as goal of the year however, is for the moment it happened. Canberra were in a form slump, a loss would have them sitting well outside the top four and give Sydney a massive leg up over them.

Instead, the win marked the start of an undefeated streak that would go on to the conclusion of the regular season. If you ever wanted a captain to stand up when your team need them, Nicole is your captain.

Golden boot: Ash Sykes seven goals
Job description, score goals. Ash Sykes delivers that in spades for Canberra, regularly beating the defence and keeper with her blistering pace.

What doesn’t get a mention in the goal tally is the amount of assists to go with the seven goals, including a handful of penalties earned off her own boot. Congrats Ash, well deserved achievement from a World Cup Matildas player.

Best newcomer: Jenna McCormick
Recruited from Adelaide United to replace Sally Rojan, McCormick made a massive impact in green at right back. Picking up two goals throughout the season, against Melbourne Victory and her old club Adelaide. She more than held up her end of the bargain heading to the nation’s capital.

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Canberra will be hoping to keep her around, as solid players in defence are hard to come by, and a defence boasting so many goal scoring options will be hard to defend against.

Most valuable player: Ash Sykes
I mentioned earlier Ash’s ability to find the back of the net, but it’s her ability to create the chances for her teammates that clinches the title of MVP.

With a signature move of burning through the defence along the boundaries of the pitch before cutting in, the defenders had nothing to stop her. With the Matilda’s heading to qualifying tournaments for Rio, you would expect to see A.Sykes appearing somewhere on the team sheets.

Overall, if you want to look at negatives you will find them in Canberra’s season. Equally, if you want positives they are definitely there in spades. The fact they had nine different goalscorers shows they have plenty of attacking options.

They have a Matildas goalie and a mix of youth and experience that they can build upon for next season.

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