Our City Women got their 2024/25 Ninja A-League campaign off to a strong start in a game of two halves.
Despite controlling the game, a goal against the run of play had Perth ahead at the break before the visitors then doubled their advantage early in the second half.
City flicked the switch from there though, netting five goals in 40 minutes to claim a huge come-from-behind win. Rhianna Pollicina scored two and assisted one, while Kathryn Harvey jagged a brace after being subbed on for her City debut.
Team News
The absence of Rebekah Stott (hamstring) and Shelby McMahon (quad) through minor injury niggles meant it was a slightly unexpected starting XI named by Michael Matricciani in his first match on home soil.
Taylor Otto took the armband in the absence of Stott, while Malena Mieres, Alexia Apostolakis, Mariana Speckmaier and Lourdes Bosch made their first domestic appearances for the Club.
Starting XI: 24. Malena MIERES (GK), 22. Bryleeh HENRY, 8. Alexia APOSTOLAKIS, 5. Taylor OTTO (C), 16. Karly ROESTBAKKEN, 18. Leah DAVIDSON, 14. Laura HUGHES, 6. Leticia McKENNA, 17. Mariana SPECKMAIER, 19. Lourdes BOSCH, 10. Rhianna POLLICINA.
Substitutes: 23. Melissa BARBIERI (GK), 7. Kathryn HARVEY, 15. Kiera MEYERS, 21. Isabella ACCARDO, 27. Tyla-Jay VLAJNIC.
What happened?
Unsurprisingly it was City dominating all of the early possession, the first chance of the day falling the way of Leticia McKenna who saw her shot go just wide of the post.
Perth would strike first against the run of play, Kelli Brown unleashing from range and catching Malena Mieres off her line in the 7th minute.
Lourdes Bosch caused plenty of problems for the Glory down the left-hand side, often combining with Rhianna Pollicina which seemed to be City’s best chance of getting back on level terms.
McKenna again saw things open up in the 27th minute after a Perth mistake at the back, but this time saw her shoot go just over the bar.
It was Pollicina getting in on the action next after some nice interplay with Bosch, but again for City – the shot missed the target.
A couple of shaky moments at the back opened the door for the Glory to double their lead, but thankfully though, the damage was only a sole goal after 45 minutes with City dominating general play.
The wind wreaked havoc early in the second half as a Miku Sunaga shot that seemed destined to fly over the bar dropped out of nowhere and found its way into the back of the net.
Although the scoreboard may have read 2-0 Glory at that point, City quickly found another gear or two to blow the visitors away from that point.
It was McKenna firing away for our first of the day, her initial shot being saved before Pollicina put herself in the right spot to tap home and halve the deficit.
With half an hour left on the clock and still chasing the game, Matricciani turned to his bench and couldn’t have asked for a more instant impact from his two substitutes.
Tyla-Jay Vlajnic swung in a corner less than two minutes after entering the pitch and then following a goal-line scramble, Kathryn Harvey poked home the equaliser moments into her City debut.
All the momentum was going our way and desperate to turn one point into all three, Pollicina decided to take matters into her own hands in the 69th minute.
After a quick one-two with Laura Hughes our number 10 cut inside onto her right boot and fired a scorcher of a strike into the top corner to fire us into the lead.
Harvey’s dream debut continued a few minutes later, the Canadian striker finding space in the box to finish off some good work from Bosch and grab her second of the day.
Four goals in 20 minutes had City fans up and about around the ctrl:cyber Pitch with the three points close to safe with time ticking down.
City continued to control proceedings right until the final whistle, grabbing a fifth goal deep into stoppage time to put the icing on the cake.
Pollicina was again at her creative best, this time around firing in a pinpoint cross from the right wing to tee up Hughes’ first goal in City blue.
What’s next?
A Melbourne Derby awaits next weekend as we take to AAMI Park on Saturday afternoon for an away fixture against Victory.
