Queensland Roar inaugural Westfield W-League Champions
Queensland Roar is the inaugural Westfield W-League Champions after a convincing 2-0 win over Canberra United in the grand final played at Ballymore Stadium in Brisbane.
Goals from Lana Harch and Tameka Butt had Queensland in control early in the match and fought off a strong challenge from Canberra in the second half, to be crowned the inaugural Champions.
The win capped a terrific season for the Roar, who went through the season losing just the once (to Canberra) and finishing the home and away season, eight points clear of their nearest rival.
Canberra coach Robbie Hooker threw a selection surprise, naming young striker Ashleigh Sykes on the bench, with Cian Maciejewski brought into midfield and Caitlin Munoz pushing up front. Young defender Rebecca Kiting was also forced out with Grace Gill taking her place.
For Queensland, the only change was Ellen Beaumont coming in for the injured Alicia Ferguson, with Elise Kellond-Knight moving into a central role alongside Lauren Colthorpe.
Running with a strong wind in the first half, Queensland took full advantage.
After a fairly even start, Queensland-s first meaningful attack after six minutes resulted in the opening goal to Harch. Beaumont dispossessed Rhian Davies on the left and sent a terrific cross to the edge of the six yard box, which Gill failed to clear. Courtney Beutel-s looping header from the bouncing ball hit the crossbar and Thea Slatyer-s attempted clearance only went as far Harch, who buried her shot into the back of the net from eight metres out.
Queensland continued to dominate with the wind at their backs and they went two ahead in the 23rd minute. A corner from the left was glanced out to the right, where Harch picked up the loose ball and played back to Butt on the edge of the area and she hit a low first time shot that hit the inside of the post before nestling in the net.
It was almost 3-0 minutes later, when Beutel set up Harch, but Canberra keeper Lydia Williams came out to smother the ball as Harch tried to round her.
Queensland had a scare soon after when impressive keeper Casey Dumont went down after coming out bravely at the feet of Sasha McDonnell and her teammate Clare Polkinghorne and copping a kick to the head. After nearly four minutes of treatment, Dumont, much to the pleasure of the crowd, continued on.
With Canberra down, Sykes was brought on for the second half in place of Amy Chapman, Munoz dropping back into midfield.
Ten minutes into the half and Canberra looking lively, Sykes thought she had pulled a goal back when she Dumont from close range, but it was ruled away for an earlier offside infringement in the lead up.
Queensland was happy to play on the break and was proving dangerous as they at times stretched the Canberra defence with Beutel-s and Harch-s pace. Both strikers had chances to add to the tally, with Harch lobbing a shot over the bar with Williams stranded, the best of these.
Canberra kept coming though, but found the Queensland very hard to break down with Sasha McDonnell shooting over the bar midway through the half, while McDonnell and Munoz both had good chances to score a late consolation goal, but couldn-t convert.
That was the end of it and Queensland players jumped wildly at the final whistle as did the majority of the 4,554 fans that turned up to watch the match.
Harch was a deserved winner of the Player of the Match award.
Westfield W-League 2009 Grand Final - Match Details
Queensland Roar 2 (Lana Harch 6-, Tameka Butt 26-) Canberra United 0 Saturday 17 January 2008 Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane Crowd: 4,554 Referee: Kate Jacewicz Assistant Referees: Sarah Ho & Airlie Keen Fourth Official: Casey Reibel
Queensland Roar line-up: 1.Casey DUMONT (gk), 2.Kate McSHEA (C), 3.Karla REUTER, 4.Clare POLKINGHORNE, 5.Brooke SPENCE, 8.Elise KELLOND-KNIGHT, 10.Lana HARCH (11.Ruth BLACKBURN 85-), 13.Tameka BUTT, 16.Lauren COLTHORPE, 18.Courtney BEUTEL (17.Tashina ROMA 84-), 19.Ellen BEAUMONT (15.Stephanie LATHAM 75-).
Substitutes not used: 14.Vedrana POPOVIC, 20.Lara BOON (gk)
Yellow cards: Nil Red Cards: Nil
Canberra United line-up: 1.Lydia WILLIAMS (gk), 2.Rhian DAVIES (15.Nicole SYKES 80-), 3.Amy CHAPMAN (14.Ashleigh SYKES 46-), 5.Sasha McDONNELL, 6.Caitlin MUNOZ, 7.Ellie BRUSH (C), 9.Grace GILL, 10.Hayley CRAWFORD, 11.Cian MACIEJEWSKI, 12.Kara MOWBRAY, 13.Thea SLATYER.
Substitutes not used: 17.Christine WALTERS, 19.Jennifer BISSETT, 20.Maja BLASCH (gk).
Yellow cards: Nil Red Cards: Nil