Adelaide United Women suffered a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Perth Glory Women in Round 7 of the Westfield W-League 2016/17 season at Elite Systems Football Centre on Saturday night.
A tremendous second goal in Adelaide United colours for Sofia Huerta was not enough to spark a comeback against a strong Perth Glory outfit, as goals from Samantha Kerr and Rosie Sutton sealed the deal in the second half.
Adelaide United Women Head Coach, Huss Skenderovic, placed a returning Grace Abbey into his starting XI, but the side were still without Brazilian international, Monica due to international duties. Also missing Emily Condon, Racheal Quigley and Alex Chidiac.
Adriana Jones looked promising in an early opportunity, her shot coming off the knee of Glory shot-stopper, Gabrielle Dal Busco. In the 15th minute, Captain, Stella Rigon thundered her left-footed free kick towards goal, deflecting off of Dal Busco, but Jones was unable to produce after a few attempts.
It was a tight affair, with Adelaide’s Huerta sighting her first chance at goal, her shot from distance was inches wide of the post. Shortly after, Kerr drew first blood from 18 yards, floating her shot past Reds Women keeper, Eliza Campbell.
Before halftime, Huerta launched a shot across goal that forced Dal Busco to tip away, moments after, Kerr then looked to double the lead, but was slightly put off the target due to pressure from defender, Katie Naughton.
Down by a goal at the break, the hosts started the second period brightly to try and restore parity, through more of an attacking display. Naughton’s header was on target following a delivery from the corner, just inches away from an equaliser.
The Glory then took hold of majority of the possession, which proved to hurt Adelaide United, as Sutton doubled the visitors lead on 57 minutes.
Huerta answered back with a spectacular finish, following a stream down the right wing, to beat Dal Busco. The hope of an equaliser was momentary, as Kerr finished off a neat assist from Sutton.
82 minutes into the match, Adelaide sunk deeper, when the Western Australian’s were awarded with a penalty, calmly slotted past Campbell. With the last chance of the game for the hosts, a great display from Danielle Colaprico found Huerta, who was thwarted by defenders before getting a clear shot on goal.
Following the match, Adelaide United Women Boss, Skenderovic, was disappointed in his side’s performance, and was uncharacteristic from their usual fighting spirit.
“It was not our best performance, and was quite out of character, but Perth were fantastic and they have been the best that I’ve seen so far,” Skenderovic said.
“They played directly, and were very effective, showing determination which is exactly what we lacked.
“They played the ball forward and were very good structurally, it is a similar way that I would like my girls to play,” Skenderovic continued. “We did try and claw our way back in, but we can’t keep trying to come back and chase games, we need to be the team in control.
“We’ll have to take this opportunity to build upon the dynamics of our team, and just keep going forward and work towards next season as well.
“We did miss a few key players, and when you play such a good side like Perth Glory, you get punished, but now we’ll have to move on to our next match.”
