It took Canberra United a good half hour to rise from their wary haunches in Saturday evening’s blockbuster against Brisbane Roar, but when they did, they pounced with fury, finishing with a 2-0 victory.

A goal to defender Grace Field late in the first half set the green machine in motion. Lori Lindsey’s corner found Ellie Brush who headed the ball to a surprised but calm and collected Field who tapped in for her first goal in the WLeague.

That goal sparked Canberra’s ravenous attacking flurry towards half time and throughout the second half.

In the first 30 minutes, United gave Brisbane Roar too much room and possibly a little too much respect as they allowed Brisbane to go through their paces, feeding Hayley Raso to the left and Emily Gielnik to the right, who in turn were more than capable of whipping dangerous crosses into the box where Tameka Butt was circling.

Chantel Jones treated most with careful precision, but with the sun setting dangerously low on the horizon, Brisbane went close to taking the early lead on a few occasions.

Butt looked dangerous at times in the early stages of the match, but Ellie Brush played an enforcer role. While she conceded a few free kicks in the process, Brush had Butt’s measure in this match up.

Likewise Sally Rojahn, playing at right back against Hayley Raso, won that dual. While Raso’s speed was dangerous, her go forward was mopped up at will by the wily Rojahn.

Gielnik loomed large on the right flank, but was slightly exposed on the touchline, so far from goal. Between Nicole Begg, Ash Sykes and Steph Ochs when the flankers switched, after the first 30 minutes Gielnik’s influence faded.

Canberra’s midfield and backline that had been exposed by Melbourne last week, was a different affair this week. They presented a much tighter unit, with players switching into gaps where they emerged, and there was a very positive style of communication between the players compared to last week, making it impossible for Brisbane to penetrate.

Canberra coach Lizz Michgelsen was happy with the performance. “We didn’t create that many chances today, but in the end, you take the chances that you get… that was an issue last week. We were more clinical this week than last week, and you win the game.”

On her first goal in W-League, Field said “It was amazing, it’s just what you dream of. Ellie just headed it straight to my foot. She made it pretty easy for me. I just had to tap it in. It was definitely an easy one, but it was a cool team to score against too.”

Michgelsen was certainly playful with the press after the match. After being quizzed about the new Canberra United formation after last week’s loss, Michgelsen was adamant there had been no switch up. Grace Field played a more open hand at this week’s post match conference. “Definitely our new formation worked really well this week. I think it will obviously take practice and we’ll get better and better at it but against Brisbane it was successful. For the defenders, it’s a lot of running, but I think it’s effective.”

Michgelsen added “We ask the team how they feel and how they want to play. We started another style of play today, and they enjoyed it. We can do what we want with the team."

"They love to switch. I always talk and ask how they are feeling and if they have confidence in the system we want to play, yes or no. If it’s a no I don’t do it, but yes, they enjoy it."

"We trained hard this week and I think this was a result for them, for their hard work and understanding of the team organisation.”

Michgelsen was playful when asked if the team was playing a 4-3-3 formation, and preferred not to talk to numbers when describing how Canberra United are bringing their game this season.

“Well, you saw what I play so I don’t mention it. You saw the game, so it’s up to you what you think we are playing. If you think we are playing 1-4-3-3, that’s fine with me, then you stick with that,” she joked.

The keen observation of The Women’s Game editor-in-chief Ann Odong has Canberra playing a 4-2-3-1, which I would agree with, but Michgelsen shook those numbers off jovially too.

Canberra had some high profile onlookers this week. Kendall Fletcher was vocal in the stands after arriving in Australia this week, urging the United flankers to “Swing it in!” in her broad US accent.

Grace Gill was full of colourful tweets having rolled her ankle in the warm up in last week’s match. She will be out for a few weeks at least.

And Tegan Riding, a former Adelaide Red, was in the stands as she prepares to sign up as an injury replacement for Meg McLaughlin who was hobbling badly after a knee arthroscope. Alongside them was Jennifer Bisset who recently underwent surgery also.

Brisbane? Well, they have some soul searching to do. The players individually had some nice touches, played some nice balls, but as a unit they really did not seem to gel and there was an air of going through the motions.

Clare Polkinghorne played hard throughout and was pressing forward late in the game to try to sneak one back. Butt worked hard all game. Nadine Angerer brought her best form, diving to her left to save a cracking shot from Michelle Heyman.

Gorry was busy in the midfield but was shown up more often than not by Canberra rookie Julia de Angelis, starting in her first match, who took out all three Canberra United team awards after the match.

De Angelis dispossessed Gorry in critical moments in a number of tough challenges and showed with her foot speed, calm demeanour and silky ball delivery that she will cause headaches for plenty of teams this WLeague season and into the future.

This result makes it nigh on impossible for Brisbane Roar to gain a spot in the finals. Matildas’ coach Alen Stajcic, in Canberra for the match again this week, reminded us that Sydney FC did manage to make the finals after 3 losses in Season 1 of the WLeague, and his photographic memory of every single result that year and how each goal was scored, for and against, has me thinking he might just be a good steward for our National team. It will certainly be an uphill battle for last year’s grand finalists to reach the final four.

Canberra on the other hand will head to Perth with a successful week, some momentum and Michgelsen’s simple philosophy behind them - “If you score more goals than the other team, then you will win.”

She closed the press conference on Saturday with a cheeky grin. “It’s just a game.” She smiled. “It’s just a game.”