Sydney FC have moved four points clear at the top of the Liberty A-League demolishing Wellington Phoenix 5-0 at WIN Stadium in Wollongong, thanks to a Mackenzie Hawkesby hat-trick and two stunning strikes from Cortnee Vine and Rachel Lowe.
Sydney FC 5 (Lowe 4’, Hawkesby 14’, 29’, 44’, Vine 38’) def Wellington Phoenix 0
Moments That Mattered:
LOWE GOAL – 4’ – A ball into the box is not properly cleared by the Phoenix defence and falls to Lowe who smashes a stunning strike into the top corner from 25 yards out.
HAWKESBY GOAL – 14’ – Ibini is fouled off the ball in the box as Vine does brilliantly to get into a crossing position. Hawkesby steps up and cleverly sends the keeper the wrong with the penalty.
VINE CHANCE – 19’ – Green storms down the left wing and sits up a cross for Vine who hits her volley at goal but it’s saved by the keeper.
VINE CHANCE – 21’ – Vine is set clear in the left channel by Siemsen and bears down on goal but puts her shot just past the far post.
HAWKESBY GOAL – 29’ – A quick throw finds Siemsen who can drive to the byline. She looks up and plays a perfect defence splitting pass across goal, taking our six Phoenix defenders and the keeper to give Hawkesby a tap-in.
SIEMSEN GOAL DISALLOWED – 32’ – Ray lifts a ball back into the box after a free-kick is cleared and Siemsen lets it bounce before finishing low under the keeper. It’s ruled offside, however replays suggested otherwise.
IBINI SHOT SAVED – 36’ – A cross from the right falls to Ibini who takes a touch and rockets a shot towards goal which the keeper Alfeld does brilliantly to tip over.
VINE GOAL – 38’ – Siemsen finds Vine who beats her defender with skill and pace. She sprints into the box and drives a shot low across goal and into the far corner.
WOODWORK HIT TWICE – 43’ – Green floats a free-kick into the box which Tobin bravely heads towards goal but it comes off the bar. Vine prods the rebound towards goal again but the keeper Alfeld gets a hand to it, to push it back onto the bar and it’s cleared.
HAWKESBY HAT-TRICK – 44’ – Ibini finds Siemsen with a great ball over the top and Remy once again picks out the perfect pass to allow Hawkesby to slot home.
SATCHELL HITS BAR – 50’ – Substitute Satchell shoots from distance and forces an acrobatic save from Alfeld who tips the ball onto the bar.
SATCHELL GOAL DISALLOWED – 59’ – Tobin’s header from a left wing corner finds Satchell who controls the ball and flicks it into the top corner from close range, but she is adjudged to have used her arm in the process.
Sydney FC’s Liberty A-League side will finish 2021 where they began the year on top of the ladder with a 5-0 thrashing of Wellington Phoenix.
Rachel Lowe’s superb 4th minute strike from outside the box set the tone and the Sky Blues ran rampant with a first half hat-trick from Mackenzie Hawkesby and an excellent run and finish from Vine to lead 5-0 at the break.
It could have been more with the woodwork, a dubious offside call for a Siemsen goal and missed chances denying Sydney FC in a superb first half.
Half time substitute Satchell hit a powerful shot early in the second half which was tipped onto the bar and then was denied a goal when the referee said she had used her hand to control the ball before finishing.
The rest of the half completed without further score although an ankle injury for the Sky Blues captain Natalie Tobin will be of concern to Ante Juric.
What They Said: Ante Juric:- “It was nice to get three points. We were really good in the first half and remain top of the table, so we are happy.
“We’ve worked hard defensively too so another clean sheet, that’s four, and I’m very happy not to concede again.
“We aren’t close to our best, we are about 60% and we haven’t been outstanding yet so we’ve got room for improvement.”
Mackenzie Hawkesby: “It was a really good performance and I’m stoked for the five goals for the team as well as me to get three goals.
“We know we had to show more this week and we did. We just want to build and build and build and we’ve got lots to improve on.”
Princess Ibini: “I’m very happy with scoreline, we probably should have got more in the second half and we pushed for it but they defended very well.
“Our game plan was to just keep pushing forward and we tried but it was a very good performance from all of the girls.”
Sydney FC: 1. Jada WHYMAN, 3. Charlotte MCLEAN, 4. Jessika NASH, 5. Ally GREEN (17. Ange HRISTODOULOU 56’), 8. Rachel LOWE, 10 Remy SIEMSEN, 11. Cortnee VINE (14. Paige SATCHELL 45’), 12. Natalie TOBIN (9. Maria JOSE ROJAS 71’), 15. Mackenzie HAWKESBY, 18. Taylor RAY (6. Sarah HUNTER 67’), 20. Princess IBINI.
Unused Subs: 20. Katie OFFER (GK).
Yellow Cards: Nash 90’.
Red Cards: None.
Wellington Phoenix: 1. Lily ALFELD, 2. Saskia VOSPER, 3. Kate TAYLOR, 4. Mackenzie BARRY, 6. Isabel GOMEZ (16. Hannah JONES 78’), 7. Chloe KNOTT, 8. Grace WISNEWSKI, 9. Ava PRITCHARD (13. Te Reremoana WALKER 64’), 11. Kelli BROWN (5. Jordan JASNOS 45’), 15. Zoe McMEEKEN (17. Talitha KRAMER 45’), 20. Alyssa WHINHAM.
Subs: 12. Brianna EDWARDS (GK).
Yellow Cards: Taylor 62’, Kramer 65’, Walker 67’.
Red Cards: None.
Venue: WIN Stadium.
Referee: Lara Lee
