Charleyyy, olay olay olay!

Simone Charley once again added her name to the scoresheet, this time at the 15 minutes mark. A pinpoint long ball from Kaleigh Kurtz found the feet of Charley, who cut the ball back and finished superbly into the corner.

The quick transition was greatly aided by Charley’s lightning speed, allowing her to expertly manoeuvre around Perth’s defence.

It’s been a great start to Charley’s W-League career so far – the 24-year-old scored two goals against the Glory in Round One, with four goals to her name this season so far.

Canberra cleverly used Charley’s pace to their advantage, playing the ball into the space behind Perth’s defence for the American to run onto.

Charley’s background in track and field was obvious throughout the match, with her pace on the right flank proving a great asset to the team in green. With plenty more games to go this season, it’ll be exciting to see how many more times Charley can add goals to her tally.

.@KaleighKurtz vision 👀@SimoneCharley finish 🔥#PERvCBR #WLeague

🎥: @FOXFOOTBALL pic.twitter.com/SwvciiQTMK

— Westfield W-League (@WLeague) December 13, 2019 ">

 

90th Minute Madness 

For a majority of the match, it looked like Perth were going to go bottom of the table without collecting so much as a point from their first four games of the season – but an unlikely hero, Kim Carroll, saved the day for the Glory in the 89th minute. Leticia McKenna’s corner came swinging in, with Carroll’s header bouncing off the bar and crossing over the line.  

Perth certainly looked more attacking against Canberra United than they have in their first three games of season so far. Glory played well at beginning of the match, but as the game went on Canberra came over the top with more possession and more attacking opportunities. Perth seemed to hold onto the ball for too long in the final third, with some solid build-up play but not much reward until the last minute of the match.  

Although Canberra were arguably the better team throughout the majority of the game, Perth didn’t go without their chances – Kat Jukic hit the bar at the 60-minute mark, and Crystal Thomas and McKenna were tested in front of goal more than a few times.

Perth now have one point out of their first four games. The Western Australian’s will be excited to get the draw, but they are going to have to step it up next week when they play top of the table Melbourne City.

⚽️ GOAL CARROLL! (90') ⚽️

SHE'S DONE IT! Back in the side and on the scoresheet with a late equaliser as she risest highest to meet McKenna's corner with a powerful header into the back of the net!

(1-1) #PERvCBR #OneGlory

— Perth Glory FC (@PerthGloryFC) December 13, 2019 ">

 

Hot, hot, hot

The heat was a killer at Dorrien Gardens last night.

It was over 30 degrees in Perth for the majority of the match, even though kick-off was at 7:15pm – and Perth is expecting four consecutive days of temperatures reaching over 40 degrees over the weekend and into the beginning of next week.

One water break was implemented into each half, a much-needed interruption as the heat continued into the second 45 minutes and until the end of the match.

Both teams were understandably fatiguing in the second half, with mistakes becoming rife as concentration lapsed towards the end of the game.

The heat is one of the uncontrollable things about the W-League and Australian football. And it’s only the beginning of December – temperatures will likely get much hotter as Summer continues.

We’ve learnt that even in 30-degree heat, these players are still willing to work hard and do whatever they can to win the game. I’m sure they’ll be plenty more hot ones to come this season -  hopefully they're all just as exciting and entertaining.