Brisbane Roar stormed to a thrilling 3-2 victory over last season’s Grand Finalists, Melbourne Victory in their Ninja A-League Women 2025–26 opener at Spencer Park on Saturday evening.
Queensland thunderstorms rolled over the Roar’s new home ground, Spencer Park, ahead of kick-off, delaying the match by 20 minutes and setting the stage for a slippery contest.
Before kick-off, both sides observed a moment’s silence in memory of Finley Bone, a member of the Sunshine Coast football community who tragically passed away during the severe storms earlier this week.
Melbourne Victory came out firing in the openin, winning two early corners, but Roar’s short-stopper Chloe Lincoln was on hand to collect and extinguish the danger.
In the 5th minute, the Roar carved out their first chance when American signing Ashlyn Miller found space on the right flank and floated a cross into the box, narrowly missing Sharn Freier’s head.
Before the 15-minute mark, the Roar went on the attack twice down the right, as Freier, Miller, and Kuilamu combined neatly. Both crosses into the box, though, failed to threaten Courtney Newbon between the sticks.
In the 22nd minute, on her Roar debut, Dutch signing Bente Jansen cut in from the right of the box and curled a stunning effort into the far-left corner, beyond Newbon’s reach, giving the Roar their first goal of the season.
Victory’s Rhianna Pollicina drew the teams level in the 34th minute, using slick footwork to create space before firing a thunderous shot from outside the box that flew into the top left corner.
Seven minutes later, Victory doubled their lead. Alana Jančevski lofted a free kick to captain Kayla Morrison, whose header fell for Kennedy White to tap home.
In the 64th minute, Jensen powered down the left and sent in a threatening cross, which Newbon could only deflect. Freier capitalised on the rebound to fire it into the back of the net, bringing Roar level at 2-2.
A curling cross from Jensen in the 86th minute found 134-capped Commbank Matildas and Roar legend Tameka Yallop, who soared above the Victory defence to head her side into a dramatic 3-2 lead.
With one minute remaining, the match was paused due to lightning in the area. Once the match re-commenced, Roar held firm through four minutes of added time to seal the triumph.
The Roar now turn their attention West, traveling to take on Perth Glory in the second round of the Ninja A-league on Friday, 7 November at HBF Park, with kick-off at 6pm AEST. Tickets for the clash are available HERE.
