Tameka Yallop scored a hattrick for the Brisbane Roar, but it wasn’t enough to keep their season alive in a dramatic draw with the Wanderers.
Meanwhile, the premiership race will go down to the final game with Melbourne City keeping their noses in front of Melbourne Victory, while Canberra secured a finals place – and solidified the rest of the top six – with victory over Wellington Phoenix.
Read our review of all of the action below.
Melbourne City 4 – 1 Newcastle Jets
The round began with a convincing 4-1 win for Melbourne City over the Newcastle Jets.
Holly McNamara’s first-half brace got her team off to the best possible start. McNamara is now two goals on top of the golden boot race, with only one round remaining. Things went from bad to worse for Newcastle, with two red cards in the first half reducing them to nine players in the second.
They did manage to get a goal back from a corner to briefly make it 2-1 before goals to Rhianna Pollicina and Bryleeh Henry made sure of the result for City.
McNamara, Henry, Karly Roestbakken, Laura Hughes, and Leah Davidson all started for Melbourne City. Tash Prior was unavailable for Newcastle.
Central Coast Mariners 0 – 1 Melbourne Victory
Melbourne Victory pushed the premiership race to the final round of the season, defeating the Central Coast Mariners 1-0 and remaining only two points behind City.
The match was a relatively even one throughout, but Victory have made a habit of finding a way to secure three points in games this season, and they did so again on Friday. Claudia Bunge scored after a corner to give Victory a lead that they would not relinquish.
Alana Murphy, Alex Chidiac and Emily Gielnik all started for Victory, while Jessika Nash was in defence for the Mariners.
Sydney FC 1 – 0 Perth Glory
Sydney FC picked up a dramatic late winner against Perth Glory to defeat them 1-0 – but results elsewhere meant that their finals race was over.
It was a game that had opportunities for both sides before the decisive goal was struck. Princess Ibini got on the end of a ball in stoppage time to tuck it home and secure a victory that kept them in the running for finals for one more day.
However, the Phoenix’s inability to defeat Canberra on Sunday meant that both Sydney and Perth are now mathematically eliminated from finals contention.
Western United 1 – 3 Adelaide United
Adelaide made a statement against one of their potential finals opponents, defeating Western United 3-1.
It was a case of no Dawber, no Healy, no worries for Adelaide as they came out of the blocks firing. Lucia Leon opened the scoring before a phenomenal strike from Sarah Morgan doubled their lead. Western United got themselves back into the game – Keiwa Hieda made it 2-1 in the first half – before Leon completed her brace in the second, and secured the win.
The result meant that Western United will need a win next week to secure a home elimination final. Adelaide United will finish third no matter what.
Chloe Berryhill – formerly known as Chloe Logarzo – started for Western United, as did Chloe Lincoln. Matilda McNamara started for Adelaide.
Canberra United 1 – 0 Wellington Phoenix
Canberra United held on for a 1-0 victory over the Wellington Phoenix that secured a top six place for them and ended Wellington’s finals hopes.
Madison Ayson’s goal at the back post after a corner in the first half was the difference between the two sides. The Phoenix had a number of opportunities, but some fantastic saves from Sally James kept them out, and they were not able to find the breakthrough they needed to keep their season alive.
Michelle Heyman started up top for Canberra in her 200th A-League Women’s appearance, and Sally James started in goals.
Brisbane Roar 4 – 4 Western Sydney Wanderers
At the same time that Canberra United were battling against the Phoenix, the Roar knew that they needed a win to stay in the competition – but, thanks to a dramatic finish in Brisbane, they could only manage a 4-4 draw against the Western Sydney Wanderers.
Tameka Yallop scored her first two goals in the first half that saw Brisbane race to a two-goal lead. Bronte Trew got a goal back before half-time to make it 2-1. However, the drama before the break wouldn’t end there – there were two red cards just before half-time, with Laini Freier and Wanderers keeper Sham Khamis sent off after an altercation.
Momo Hayashi restored Brisbane’s two-goal advantage before Holly Caspers and Madison McComasky levelled things for the Wanderers. A third for Yallop put Brisbane ahead again, but again, the Wanderers found a way – a stoppage-time goal for Sophie Harding making it 4-4 and putting a dagger through Brisbane’s finals hopes.
Yallop and Freier both started for Brisbane, with Sharn Freier remaining unavailable due to injury.