Two fabulous second-half goals were enough to secure a 2-1 Westfield W-League win for the Brisbane Roar over the Perth Glory at AJ Kelly Fields on Sunday afternoon.
Two fabulous second-half goals were enough to secure a 2-1 Westfield W-League win for the Brisbane Roar over the Perth Glory at AJ Kelly Fields on Sunday afternoon.
The Roar had the better of the contest overall, but struggled to finish their chances until Tameka Butt and Katrina-Lee Gorry hit the Glory with a delightfully executed double punch in the second term.
Rosie Sutton pulled a goal back for the visitors, but Brisbane hung on relatively comfortably until full time to secure their first home win of the season.
The first clear chance of the game did not come until the 13th minute, when Raso broke down the right and sent in a low cross to Butt, whose curling right-footed shot flew straight to Perth goalkeeper Chantel Jones.
Perth then came close to the opener when Marianna Tabain crossed from the right and found Rosie Sutton, but the striker could not control her close-range header.
Tabain shot straight at the keeper minutes later after receiving a perfectly weighted through ball from Kathryn Gill.
Gill then somehow missed the target after taking down a lofted pass from Christina Julien and finding herself alone in the Brisbane box.
Raso failed to convert an even better chance down the other end after some nice build up play involving Burgess and Tameka Butt.
Brisbane continued their domination as the half wore on, and almost broke through when Burgess tried a shot from distance which almost snuck past Jones.
Despite a host of chances, the score remained 0-0 at the half time break.
Raso continued to trouble the Glory defence in the second term, and she won a free kick after 60 minutes when she slalomed past several opponents before being fouled just outside the D. Brisbane attempted an elaborate free kick routine which backfired badly, however, and the chance was wasted.
The goal, when it finally came, was worth the wait.
A Brisbane counter attack saw Katrina-Lee Gorry break down the right before sliding a ball through to Raso, who cut back for Butt to curl a sublime effort into the far corner of the net.
The Roar matched that goal for stylishness eight minutes later when Butt and Gorry combined with clockwork precision to cut through the Perth defence; a series of short passes allowed Gorry to slide into the box and finish past Jones.
Perth very quickly halved the deficit, however, when Roar goalkeeper Kate Stewart could not hand on to a long-range Elisa D’Ovidio free kick and Sutton was on hand to bury the loose ball.
The visitors were not able to make further inroads, however, as Brisbane were able to see out the remaining time and secure all three points.
Brisbane Roar 2 (Butt 67, Gorry 75)
Perth Glory 1 (Sutton 78)
Brisbane Roar: 20. Kate Stewart (gk), 2. Laura Alleway, 5. Brook Spence, 6. Joanne Burgess(9. Larissa Crummer 67), 7. Kim Carrol, 8. Elise Kellond-Knight (c), 10. Katrina-Lee Gorry, 11. Vedrana Popovic (19. Ayesha Norrie 82), 13. Tameka Butt, 14. Natasha Wheeler (17. Emily Gielnik 45), 16. Hayley Raso
Perth Glory: 1. Chantel Jones (gk), 2. Sarah Carrol (17. Marianna Tabain 14), 3. Cecilie Sandjev, 4. Bronwyn Studman, 5. Shannon May, 9. Rosie Sutton, 12. Kathryn Gill (c), 13. Elisa D’Ovidio, 16. Thia Eastman, 19. Shawn Billam (8. Ella Mastrantonio 56), 21. Christina Julien (15. Jessica Dillon 82)
