W-League MELBOURNE VICTORYS FINALS HOPES BOOSTED WITH WIN OVER BRISBANE ROAR Melbourne Victory has ended Brisbane Roars Westfield W-League finals hopes and boosted its own with a come-from-behind 2-1 win at Lakeside Stadium on Sunday. Victorys Racheal Quigley cancelled out Hayley Rasos opener moments before the break, before Christine Nairn converted the winner with 10 minutes remaining to see Victory move into second spot. Raso gifted the Roar a perfect start inside the opening two minutes, driving her powerful effort across keeper Brianna Davey into the far corner. The visitors continued their momentum throughout the majority of the first half, controlling and dominating possession over a slow-starting Victory. Belinda Wilsons side had a number of chances to double the lead with Raso and Katrina Gorry coming closest. American Lauren Barnes then came agonisingly close to an equaliser with one of Melbournes first sights on goal, volleying Nairns precise dink onto the crossbar. Victory however squared the ledger on the stroke of halftime following a sensational build up. Nairns raking ball released Lisa De Vanna down the left wing, with the forward squaring up Quigley to tap in from close range. Despite conceding, Brisbane responded positively upon the restart with Emily Gielnik finding the back of the net, only to be ruled offside by the referees assistant. Raso continued to wreak havoc in front of goal for Brisbane, coming inches close to a second on number of occasions and forcing Davey into a spectacular fingertip save. An indirect free-kick almost gifted Melbourne the lead with half an hour remaining. German goalkeeper Nadine Angerer collected Kim Carrolls back pass, only for Nairn to blaze the resulting free-kick over from six yards. The American found the winner in the 80th minute though. Combining with De Vanna once again, Nairn capped off a quick one-two to slot in Melbournes second of the afternoon inside the far post. Despite a poor start, Melbourne Victory coach Joe Montemurro was satisfied with the three points. Its an important win, Montemurro said. We started off very shaky. In the first 20 minutes Id never seen a team play that hesitantly. They (Melbourne) just couldnt find any rhythm. Little passes and little things werent happening and then we sort of found a little bit of rhythm and probably got back into the game and then the goal came. Montemurro cited a number of tactical changes at the break which sparked a strong second-half display. Then we had to make some tactical adjustments in the second half, and they seemed to work and we seemed to find a little bit more room in midfield and probably created a couple of the better chances, he said. Melbourne hosts Newcastle Jets in its final home-and-away match at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex next week, while Brisbane will entertain Canberra United at Suncorp Stadium. Should Victory defeat the Jets, it will be guaranteed a finals spot. FULL TIME: Melbourne Victory 2 (Quigley 44, Nairn 80) defeated Brisbane Roar 1 (Raso 2) at Lakeside Stadium [HT 1-1], Round 10, 2014 Westfield W-League Melbourne Victory: 1. Brianna DAVEY (GK), 2. Hannah BREWER (12. Ella MASTRANTONIO 70), 5. Lauren BARNES, 7. Stephanie CATLEY (C), 8. Amy JACKSON, 9. Racheal QUIGLEY (29. Caitlin FRIEND 84), 10. Christine NAIRN, 11. Lisa DE VANNA, 15. Emma CHECKER, 16. Beattie GOAD, 18. Elli REED. Unused substitutes: 20. Cassandra DIMOVSKI (GK), 17. Gulcan KOCA. Yellow cards: Amy Jackson (49), Lisa De Vanna (81) Red cards: None Brisbane Roar: 1. Nadine ANGERER (GK), 4. Clare POLKINGHORNE (C), 5. Brooke SPENCE, 6. Hayley RASO, 7. Kim CARROLL, 9. Larissa CRUMMER, 10. Katrina GORRY, 11. Vedrana POPOVIC (16. Angela BEARD 63), 13. Tameka BUTT, 14. Natasha WHEELER (18. Sunny FRANCO 77), 17. Emily GIELNIK (19. Ayesha NORRIE 69) Unused substitutes: 20. Kate STEWART (GK) Yellow cards: Crummer (23), Gorry (60), Spence (71) Red cards: None FFV Communications
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 08:25:47 +0000
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