It was a 3-0 win to the Brisbane Roar after a Tameka Butt hat-trick* the Western Sydney Wanderers could not recover as Brisbane Roar captain Clare Polkinghorne celebrated her 100th match for the Roar - the first player to reach the milestone in the W-League.

Brisbane Roar - Key Points and Players

Tameka Butt opened the game for the Brisbane Roar the best way she could with a two goal brace in the space of three minutes. Brisbane Roar continued the pattern of the past couple of weeks of dominating the possession of the opening half.  They were able to get in behind the Wanderers defence with well weighted through balls to the Gielnik, Beard and Butt who were mobile and quick.

The defence stood strong, especially the central pairing of Clare Polkinghorne and Nina Frausing-Pedersen as they forced the Wanderers to take shots from outside the 18-yard box.  It was one of the first games of the season the Roar have dominated from start to finish, and in all areas of the field.

“The girls have put in a lot of effort in the last few weeks and two get two early goals was a little bit of a reward for all the hard work we put in and to get the late one sealed it nicely,” Polkinghorne said.

“It’s nice to hear all the well wishes from players and former players, it’s a bit overwhelming to be honest but to play at Suncorp in front of a home crowd is pretty special and something I won’t forget,” she said.

Talking Point

Brisbane Roar is back in the winner’s circle after losing three games in a row but will this late run be enough to secure them a run late into a finals spot?

Western Sydney Wanderers - Key Points and Players

It is not the result the Wanderers were looking to come away with up in Brisbane after a week off. The last time the two sides met the Wanderers pushed them in the first half and was unlucky to come away with the points.

After the two early goals solidified their defensive structures and restricted the Roar from hitting the penalty box for the rest of the half.

Young Matildas forward Rachel Lowe was impressive upfront.  The teenager has continued to grow this season and caused danger for goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold with her powerful shots from outside the box.

The Wanderers were good on the ball but as they have for a part of the season, struggled to create enough to trouble the Brisbane defence.

“Coming into this game we were really positive, we felt like we were in form and we felt like we should’ve come and left with the three points,” captain Caitlin Cooper said.

“Of course it is disappointing, but its not the end of our season we won’t let it bring us down. We will only build on this so we need to go back and regroup but we will come back stronger next week,” she said.

Talking point

The Wanderers were dealt a blow to their finals chances and with three games left, they will need maximum points to secure a finals spot.

What’s next?

The Brisbane Roar will face the Newcastle Jets at McDonald Jones Stadium in a Westfield W-League/Hyundai A-League double header on Sunday 15 January. The Wanderers will take on Adelaide United away after they drew with Canberra United.

*The official referee’s report awarded the third goal to Butt.

Match Details

Brisbane Roar FC: 3 (Butt 3’, 6’, 75’)

Western Sydney Wanderers FC: 0

Saturday 7 January 2017

Suncorp Stadium

Kick-off: 1:35pm (AEST) Referee: Kelly Jones

Brisbane Roar FC: 1.Mackenzie ARNOLD (gk), 2.Nina FRAUSING-PEDERSEN, 3.Amy CHAPMAN (Cortnee VINE 64’), 4.Clare POLKINGHORNE (c) (Brooke SPENCE 90’), 6.Angela BEARD, 8.Kaitlyn TORPEY, 10.Katrina GORRY, 13.Tameka BUTT, 14.Summer O’BRIEN (Sunny FRANCO 76’), 17.Emily GIELNIK, 18.Maddy EVANS

Unused substitutes: 20. Georgina Worth (gk)

Western Sydney Wanderers FC: 1.Jada WHYMAN (gk), 2.Caitlin COOPER (c), 5.Helen PETINOS, 6.Kendall FLETCHER, 7.Sarah YATIM (Alix ROBERTS 45’), 8.Erica HALLOWAY, 9.Katie STENGEL, 10.Paige NIELSEN, 12.Rachel LOWE (Alyssa ROSE 84’), 15.Ellie CARPENTER, 18.Angelique HRISTODOULOU

Unused substitutes: 4. Chloe O’Brien, 22. Casey Dumont (gk)

Yellow cards: Angelique HRISTODOULOU 72’

Red cards: NIL