No pressure, no problem

Sitting towards the bottom of the table and with no chance of making finals, you might expect a poor performance from Adelaide United.  

But without the pressure and fear that might usually plague this team, they were instead able to play freely and more comfortably than they have all season.

From the beginning of the match Adelaide played with an air of confidence, pressing the Wanderers well and winning the ball back quickly.

They had a few early chances that put the Wanderers under pressure, most notably a shot from Emily Condon that hit the cross bar within the first five minutes of the game.

A quarter of an hour into the match, Chelsie Dawber added her name to the scoresheet, with Mallory Weber scoring goals number two and three, making the final score 3-2.

Adelaide have nothing to lose, and this attitude brought out their best performance this season.

There are only a few rounds left for the Lady Reds, but if they go into their remaining games with the same approach as they took tonight, there’s sure to be some more exciting football on the horizon.

Giant slayers leave Western Sydney ‘Wandering’

Despite sitting in second place on the ladder and playing the team coming last, the Wanderers were left scratching their heads after tonight’s match.

Western Sydney found it difficult to break down Adelaide, possibly due to their seemingly constant shifts in formation and quick transitions.

The Reds played some brilliant attacking balls into space, and a shaky Wanderers defence coupled with some individual errors made it difficult for Western Sydney to not concede.

With two teams at opposite ends of the ladder, a 3-2 win to the team coming last is certainly not what was expected.

Western Sydney are second on the ladder and set to play in their first finals series, whilst Adelaide came into this game with only one point to their name.

But this isn’t a bad thing for the league – it shows that anyone can beat anyone, and it makes the league more exciting to not dub any matches as rite-offs.

At the end of the day, Adelaide played their best game of the season and the Wanderers had no answers.

The Dawber and Weber show

Chelsie Dawber and Mallory Weber were superstars for the team in red tonight.

Combining together in the middle of the park, the pair were able to create magic for Adelaide United to lead them to their first victory of the season.

Only 17 minutes into the match, Chelsie Dawber added her name to the scoresheet, winning possession from the Wanderers’ defence and slotting the ball into the back of the net.   

Emily Condon set up Adelaide’s second goal, dribbling the ball to the by-line before crossing to Weber who was left unmarked at the far post and made no mistake of tapping the ball over the line.  

But the American wasn’t done there.

Weber scored her brace just before half time, securing a ball in the air before calmly netting her team’s third goal of the match.

The striker could have easily had a hattrick to herself, and between her and Dawber the score could have been five or six goals to nil with a bit of luck.

Although there’s not many games left, these two players have shown the league their worth in tonight’s match.