A (Western) united front, as Western Untited go top of the ALW
Her side the winners of five straight and the new leaders of the A-League Women after a 3-0 dispatching of an undermanned Wellington, Kat Smith can feel the confidence growing in her group.
There is no team in the A-League Women making a better go of things than Western United right now, the league’s new leaders and owners of its longest active-winning streak. Defeating Wellington Phoenix 3-0 at City Vista Reserve on Sunday afternoon, Kat Smith’s side brought up their fifth win on the bounce against the undermanned Kiwis, a run in which they’ve not just got three points on repeat but also discovered their shooting boots, outscoring opponents twelve to four.
Taking a first-half lead when Chloe Logarzo nodded in the rebound of a Hannah Keane effort that careened over the bar, United looked to be cruising in Melbourne’s west, it seemingly only a matter of time until they turned on the jets and streaked away from a heavily understrength opponent that had been forced into seven changes thanks to injury and international duty.
Leaping on their foes when the second stanza began, United would end up outshooting their opponents 24 (seven on target) to 3 (two) and have 42 touches in the Phoenix’s penalty area compared to just the six managed by their opponent. Indeed, they were cruising heading into the final 20 minutes but for one minor problem: none of this control of the game’s tempo or territory was being felt on the scoreboard.
So often in these circumstances, sod’s law dictates that some kind of cheap equaliser is to be shipped, a punishment from the footballing gods for failure to turn control into goals. But then in the 72nd-minute and Olimpico from Grace Maher, only on set piece duty after TJ Vlajnic’s substitution, brought the dam walls down.
Keane, who had twice rattled the woodwork to that point, subsequently put a well-deserved bow on things when she turned in an Aimee Medwin in the 78th frame.
“With this group, the goals are always coming no matter what minute it is,” Smith said post-game. “We knew Wellington would put out a different team compared to what we've been able to observe over the last couple of weeks and that sometimes puts teams into a false sense of security.
“So from the get-go, it was very much around the key performance factors that we needed to make sure were instilled within this group and applied during those 90 minutes.
“So we knew the goals were coming, we've done incredible work behind the scenes, the staff have been fantastic around making sure we're evolving as a group; to make sure that we're still in positions where we can find goals when we really need them.”
Three months ago, United had travelled to Wellington and fallen to a 3-1 defeat, with their lone goal a 93rd-minute strike from Logarzo that served primarily to put some window-dressing on the result.
After ending the season as grand finalists from the campaign prior, a stuttering start saw United win just a single game across their opening month of the season and the loss of their coach Mark Torcaso in early December, in differing circumstances, could easily have seen the side enter a tailspin.
Smith, however, hasn’t let that happen.
Taking over with them sitting eighth on the table, the side from Melbourne’s West has dropped just two games as they’ve rocketed up the table, as well as recorded strong wins over rivals Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory.
In trademark fashion, the coach refused to be drawn on matters of momentum and rolling stones post-game but did say she could feel a growing sense of confidence and belief amongst the group.
“I think there's a real harmony and united front with the way we're playing,” Smith said. “ I think there's incredible buy-in across the whole squad.
“Week in, week out it's about being completely professional about our preparation -- on and off the field -- to make sure that we can perform each week.”
For all the good vibes, however, the departure of starting keeper Hillary Beall following Sunday’s win does present a hurdle that must be overcome.
In Tarneit on loan from NWSL side the San Diego Wave, the reigning A-League Women goalkeeper of the year will return to the 619 on Monday for pre-season training, where she shapes as the primary back-up to incumbent number one and Canadian international Kailen Sheridan.
Alyssa Dall'Oste, who commenced the season as the starter before Beall returned on loan, shapes as one potential option, but Smith did confirm to JDL Media that United would also be bringing in an international keeper for the remainder of the season.
Logarzo, Vlajnic, Kahli Johnson, and Jaclyn Sawicki will all jet off for international duty during the coming weeks, but all are expected to be back and available for United’s clash with Canberra on March 1.