Westfield Matildas at Home: De Vanna, Cooney-Cross and Gorry strike during exciting weekend of W-League action

There were Westfield Matildas on the scoresheet throughout an absorbing round three of the Westfield W-League. 

Check out the best bits that involved our international stars as Canberra snatched a point in Brisbane and Melbourne Victory hit cross-town rivals City for six.

Complete survey

 

Melbourne Victory 6-0 Melbourne City 

Westfield Matildas veteran Lisa De Vanna scored a spectacular individual goal and rising star Kyra Cooney-Cross put the icing on the cake as a relentless Melbourne Victory secured a stunning 6-0 win over Melbourne City at CB Smith Reserve on Sunday afternoon.

It was a bright start from Jeff Hopkins' side who seemed hungry to score their first goal of the 2020/21 campaign and 15 minutes into the contest they got their deserved opener through Annalie Longo, who split City's defence with a sharp run to slide in and bury her shot past Westfield Matildas goalkeeper Teagan Micah.

City midfielder Sarah Cain went close for the hosts with two quick-fire opportunities before the visitors a sharper clinical edge, doubling their advantage thanks to the quick reactions of Melina Ayres on hand to tap home a Micah save which spilled into her path.

Victory were superb in the opening half and should have had three goals for their troubles after Lisa De Vanna set up yet another chance for Ayres but the striker blew the chance high over the bar, ensuring her side took a 2-0 lead into the break.

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Harriet Withers was a rare bright spark for City in the first half and an early sight on goal in the second stanza showed the City attacker was intent on leaving her mark on the contest, but as the hosts pushed for an opening goal Victory gunned for a third, with the woodwork denying Ayres a terrific goal on the hour mark.

Victory then turned on the style with 20 minutes to play in the contest, as De Vanna came to the fore to produce a masterful solo run and finish which was quickly followed by an Amy Jackson strike to suddenly hand the visitors an enormous four-goal lead.

When the visitors scored their fourth questions arose as to how many they would score by full-time, and with City heads dropping around them Victory's attack mounted a relentless assault which produced a further two goals to Catherine Zimmerman and Kyra Cooney-Cross to decide the contest 6-0 in Victory's favour, a simply remarkable scoreline to match Victory's ruthless approach to a memorable Melbourne Derby.

De Vanna McCormick

Key Moments 

De Vanna does it all in magnificent solo goal

The body feint, the dribble, the burst of pace, the finish: De Vanna's goal in the second half displayed all of the above in what was a remarkable highlight to cap off a dominant display by the Westfield Matildas legend.

De Vanna's marvellous run began with a nutmeg on Jenna McCormick she pulled off without touching the ball, feinting to go one way before rolling to her right and collecting the ball past the City defender after it rolled between her legs.

The Victory attacker then sized up Tumeth, took a heavy touch to burn past her opponent, sized up the goal and buried a shot from the left of the box into the bottom right corner. 

Cooney-Cross gets forward to score crushing sixth goal for Victory

City were all at sea after Victory's barrage of offensive pressure and Cooney-Cross was aware of the opportunities that would come along with the defensive collapse. 

The 18-year-old sniffed a chance for herself with a long through ball which wasn't dealt with effectively by the City defence; Cooney-Cross charged onto the ball and in on goal, sliding her shot into the back of the net to seal an emphatic win for her side.

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS: Melbourne Victory vs Melbourne City

Brisbane Roar 1-1 Canberra United

Katrina Gorry scored Brisbane Roar's first goal of the 2020/21 Westfield W-League campaign in spectacular fashion but was left ruing what could have been as her side was forced to settle for a third draw in as many games.

After back-to-back 0-0 stalemates in Rounds 1 and 2, Gorry fired Brisbane into the lead against Canberra United at Dolphin Stadium on Thursday night.

The Roar dominated their visitors for the majority of the contest, mounting a stern assault on Canberra's goal as they created a 22 to 13 advantage in total shots throughout the 90 minutes.


GOAL: Gorry precision leads to stunning Roar goal

Westfield Matildas forward Emily Geilnik so nearly celebrated her 100th Westfield W-League appearance in style, as her second-half chance to thump home a slick team move crashed off the crossbar. 

Ten of Brisbane's shots were on target but only one of those shots found its way into the back of the net, and after a flurry of opportunities went to waste Brisbane paid the price when Grace Maher scored a goal of the highest order from within the centre circle to somehow salvage the Green Machine a draw. 

Brisbane Celebrations


Speaking post-match, Gorry said the individual joy of scoring her own outstanding goal was outweighed considerably by the frustration brought on by her side's wastefulness in the final third.

"It’s always nice to score, but disappointing result in the end," Gorry told FOX Sports.

"It’s just the final pass for us, we create so many chances and our back for are so solid, so we need to be better in the front third and start finishing our chances.

"It’s tough not getting a few goals and coming away with three points, but we know it will come, we’re performing well and creating chances, so hopefully it will come." 


MATCH HIGHLIGHTS: Brisbane Roar 1-1 Canberra United