Last-minute winning goals are the flavour of the week for West Canberra Wanderers FC, but player-coach Emma Stanbury says it is not part of the game plan.
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Wanderers made it two on the bounce against Gungahlin FC on Sunday afternoon, taking a 1-0 victory in the NPL days after their 2-1 Federation Cup semi-final win.
An 85th-minute long-range strike from Stanbury was denied by goalkeeper Kailey Tonini but fell at the feet of Wanderers substitute Elizabeth Edwards. The attacker slotted it past Tonini to secure the three points.
Following on from an 89th-minute winning goal in the Cup and the 85th-minute goal on Sunday, Stanbury said last-minute goals were not part of the game plan. She credited the squad's depth for Edwards coming off the bench to score.
"We just didn't put away our chances, I think we could have scored a lot more but Gungahlin is a really strong squad as well and they gave us a run for our money in patches," she said.
"We're looking forward to hopefully climbing up that ladder and the grand final for the Fed Cup coming up."
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Gungahlin almost broke the stalemate early, after a scramble in the box saw Wanderers goalkeeper Janet King roaming the edges of the 18-yard box. However, a strong defence prevented the home side from getting a shot off with King off her line.
The host side looked dangerous in the first half and their best chance came via a free kick at the 30-minute mark, with Elke Aitolu's shot rattling the crossbar.
Gungahlin coach Diego Iglesias said it was upsetting to lose in the final moments of the match.
"We've got our own style that we want to follow and we're not quite executing it yet, but there's a long way to go yet. So we just need to continue to work on it until it clicks," he said.
"We need to be better in the final third, we do create chances but football's about scoring goals."
The Wanderers found their drive in the second half - lifting their intensity, offering a higher press and creating scoring chances - which turned out to be the difference.
Wanderers will remain fifth on the ladder on equal points with Gungahlin, who sit fourth but have a better goal difference.
Isobel Cootes
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
