Sykes sisters return to NPL as Olympic fall to Gungahlin

Coach Andrew Woodman lured the sisters back to Olympic in a major boost to the NPLW club, who finished bottom of the table last season with only two wins and two draws.

Begg, who played 88 W-League matches, joined Olympic as an assistant coach last season, helping them rebuild the team and its culture during a transition year.

It was enough to spark a desire to join them on field, while the prospect of playing a midfield role had her eager to chase a new challenge.

She starred up front in Olympic's 2-0 loss to Gungahlin United at Gungahlin Enclosed on Sunday, but her twin sister Sykes was sorely missed with a minor knee injury.

"Nic is a super athlete and how hard she wants to fight for her teammates for the 90 minutes is something that makes her a phenomenal role model," Woodman said.

"She's a super influence on the group and as an assistant coach she brings so much into that role as well. Her ability to influence a football game is really significant.

"The reality is, with players like that, it's one thing to have played at a high level but to come into the group, evaluate where we're at, give something back at a level that's not so high and approach it in such an impressive way is massive.

"We've got such talent in this group to work with, which makes it more enjoyable for them, they can see it's a group that's passionate about football."

Olympic is hoping Sykes, a former Matilda, will be fit to play against Woden-Weston next round after injuring her knee at training four weeks ago.

She sat out of the opening round as a precaution, but her absence was felt as Olympic failed to mark the scoreboard.

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Gungahlin dominated possession but couldn't break through Olympic's defensive wall in the first half, with the teams scoreless at the break. Brigitte Sander had the first solid chance to draw blood for Gungahlin when she ran down the left sideline from fullback and pounced on a through-ball from Tianah Miro.

But her strike was saved by a diving Angelica Pahina, who went on to save two more attempts from Ella-Rose Brown and Erika Pennyfield in the first half.

Begg was quick to respond with a swift sprint down the sideline a minute later. She beat Gungahlin defender Dhiaan Sidhu to cross for Kellie Brown, but the pass was deflected by the Gunners' defence.

Woodman's side came out firing in the second half and Begg had multiple close chances to score an early goal. But it was Gungahlin's Elke Aitolu who drew first blood in the 58^th minute, sending a long-range shot into the goal from a free kick.

"If you spend enough time around Elke you know that's no fluke for her," Gungahlin coach Diego Iglesias said.

"She's such a sweet striker of the ball but the pleasing thing about the free kick was that Stefi [Lejins] was fighting so hard for the ball and willing to put herself in to win it.

"Even though someone like Elke steps up and slots the free kick into goal, it's the hard work by others to get us into that position."

Aitolu rode on the momentum and helped extend their lead just minutes later, sending a chip down the midfield for Pennyfield to lob past Pahina. Across town, Canberra United Academy beat Tuggeranong United 3-1 and Canberra Croatia ground out a 1-0 win over Woden-Weston.

CAPITAL FOOTBALL ROUND 1

Women: GUNGAHLIN UNITED 2 bt CANBERRA OLYMPIC 0, CANBERRA UNITED ACADEMY 3 bt TUGGERANONG UNITED 1, CANBERRA CROATIA 1 bt WODEN-WESTON 0.

Men: GUNGAHLIN UNITED 5 bt WODEN-WESTON 0, TIGERS FC 4 bt TUGGERANONG UNITED 0.