Sydney FC has pummelled Brisbane Roar 4-0 with 15-year old Willa Pearson breaking Sam Kerr’s record for the A-League’s youngest ever goalscorer tonight.
Sydney FC 4 (Hawkesby 48’, Pearson 59’, Tanner 68’, Halmarick 90’+3′) Brisbane Roar 0
The Sky Blues scored four second half goals thanks to Pearson, Hawkesby, Tanner and a maiden strike from 18-year old Skye Halmarick to record their biggest win of the season away in Queensland.
Moments That Mattered:
4’ | GALIC HITS POST – Ulkekul feeds Lemon who cuts inside onto her right foot to shoot on target but it hits her team-mate Galic. The loose ball falls nicely to last season’s Grand Final winner but her left foot shot across goal brushes the post and is cleared.
48’ | HAWKESBY GOAL – The corner is cleared to Corbett who slides the ball to Hawkesby in the right centre of the box. The midfielder shapes to shoot on her right foot but chops the ball back onto her left and tucks it inside the near post, leaving the Roar defence on their backside with the clever cut-back.
59’ | PEARSON GOAL – 15-year-old Corbett pulling the strings in midfield finds Lemon wide left who skids the ball across the goal to the other 15-year-old Pearson to slide in and break Sam Kerr’s record and become the Ninja A-League’s youngest ever goalscorer.
65’ | HINZ GREAT SAVE – A Roar free-kick 25 yards from goal is fired low towards the keeper’s bottom right hand corner but a flying, diving Hinz is across to tip the ball around the corner.
68’ | TANNER GOAL – Hawkesby drops the ball over the defence into the path of Tanner who does a step over to beat her defender and power a left foot shot beyond the keeper from the left of the box.
84’ | GALIC HITS THE POST – A fabulous turn from Galic in the box to shoot but the ball bounces of the foot of the post for a second time.
90’+3’ | HALMARICK GOAL – Hawkesby floats a ball over the top to Halmarick who bursts beyond the Brisbane defence, beats the keeper in a strong challenge and slots the ball into the empty net to complete the rout.
Match Report: Sydney FC have thrashed Brisbane Roar 4-0 in a game which saw 15-year-old Willa Pearson break Sam Kerr’s A-League record for the youngest ever goalscorer and 18-year old Skye Halmarick score her first Sydney FC goal.
Head Coach James Slaveski made two changes to the starting line up with Lemon replacing the suspended Fenton and Panama international Tanner coming in for Cassar on the flank.
The Sky Blues made a strong start attacking well in the opening minutes and were almost ahead in the 4th when Galic grazed the Roar post. Lemon received the ball on the left, cut inside to shoot on her right but saw her shot hit Galic’s thigh. She picked up the loose ball to shoot left footed across goal but it struck the post and came back into play to a Roar player who cleared.
The wet weather made it tough for both sides to get into any real goalscoring positions and other than some shots which were blocked, including a couple of easy gathers for Hinz, neither side created anything meaningful before the break.
Both teams returned from the half time interval goalless and Sydney FC started the stronger taking the lead within three minutes.
15-year-old Claire Corbett did well to slip the ball to Hawkesby in the right centre of the box. The skipper shaped to shoot on the right but chopped the ball back to her left leaving Momo sitting on the ground. She then fired a neat shot inside the near post to make it 1-0 to the Sky Blues.
The goal lifted the Sydney FC and Hawkesby came close to doubling the lead with a shot which Lincoln was down well to save.
Then Corbett found Pearson with a lovely ball on the right and she crossed to Tanner who slid in to put the ball wide as the offside flag was raised.
Sydney FC were gaining in confidence and went 2-0 up just before the hour mark with 15-year old Willa Pearson breaking the A-League record for the youngest ever goalscorer.
Fellow 15-year-old Corbett played in Lemon on the left wing and she fizzed the ball across the Roar backline to Pearson at the back post to slide in and finish back across goal.
The goal made her the youngest goalscorer in A-League history at 15 years and 51 days, beating Sam Kerr’s record by more than a month.
Sydney FC were in the ascendancy now but needed Hinz to make a good save from a free-kick to keep the clean sheet before they added a third through Tanner.
The American born winger latched onto Hawkesby’s dropped pass over the top, before beating her player and rattling a left foot shot beyond Lincoln.
It was the Sky Blues night, restricting Brisbane to long range efforts which Hinz snapped up easily, while the score could have been more when Galic hit the post again late on.
Substitute Halmarick was able to make up for where Galic missed out in injury time when she chased Hawkesby’s through ball, won the tackle with the goalkeeper and slotted into the empty net to finish the scoring at 4-0.
The result leaves the Sky Blues within five points of the top six.
What They Said: Sydney FC Head Coach James Slaveski: “Really pleased for the girls and proud of them. Well deserved and should have been more than 4 to be honest.
“They have had a rough week with a lot of change but they have conducted themselves as ultimate professionals.
“I thought we set up the win with our performance in the first half with our intensity off the ball and our quality on the ball.
“They are really believing in what we are trying to do and it showed tonight. Super pleased for everyone involved.”
Youngest Ever A-League Goalscorer Willa Pearson:- “Oh my God — It’s definitely not a feat I thought I’d have, but I’m very, very happy and very proud to get a win with this team.
“They deserve it so much, and I’m just so proud that we could put it all together.
“This is definitely the best we’ve ever played, so I’m proud of everybody — the coaches as well. It’s been hard, but so rewarding to get it done.
“As soon as I saw the opportunity, I thought, “I’ve got to get up here, otherwise I’m going to cop it.”
“So I pushed forward, slid in, and it happened to come off. A bit of beginner’s luck maybe, but it was really, really cool playing in a new position.”
Sydney FC | 1. Heather HINZ, 2. Madison AYSON, 4. Tori TUMETH, 9. Jodi ULKEKUL (7. Amelia CASSAR 61’), 13. Riley TANNER, 14. Abbey LEMON, 15. Mackenzie HAWKESBY, 17. Claire CORBETT (18. Amber LUCHTMEIJER 74’), 23. Rubi SULLIVAN (19. Skye HALMARICK 86’), 24. Caley TALLON-HENNIKER (16. Willa PEARSON 46’), 32. Bianca GALIC.
Unused Subs | 30. Tiahna ROBERTSON (GK), 31. Sofia FANTE (GK).
Head Coach | James SLAVESKI
Yellow Cards | Tanner 49’, Galic 65’
Red Cards | None
Brisbane Roar FC | 1.Chloe LINCOLN (GK), 2. Angie BEARD (15.Kiera MEYERS 60’), 3.Daisy BROWN (18.Amali KINSELLA 81’), 4. Kijah STEPHENSON (27. Ashlyn MILLER, 60’), 5. Aimee MEDWIN 7. Momo HAYASHI, 8.Josie STUDER, 11.Marianna SEIDL, 17.Bente JANSEN, 22.Ava PIAZZA, 32. Alicia WOODS,
Unused Subs | 12. Tahlia FRANCO (GK), 6.Ruby CUTHBERT, 47. Kyla HANSON.
Head Coach | Alex SMITH
Yellow Cards | Smith 34’, Seidl 66’
Red Cards | None
Venue | Spencer Park
Referee | Izzy Cooper
Attendance | 520
