Belconnen United opened their season with a statement win over Olympic FC, beating the defending champions 5-1. Last season’s grand final comes just three weeks after Belconnen beat Olympic 3-0 in the Charity Shield.
Belconnen were the stronger team from kick-off, and it wasn’t long before their dominance paid off. An overhead pass down the left wing found the run of Bronte Pyke in space behind the Olympic line. Pyke’s cross found club debutant Alex Martens who was waiting at the penalty spot to capitalise. Martens fired a first-time strike into the bottom left corner to open the scoring on the 15-minute mark.
Belconnen Head Coach Scott Conlon was full of praise for the new addition. He was most impressed with her work off the ball.
“In possession, she gives us what our girls did last year, but out of possession, she’s a smart player and she helps us defend from the midfield better than probably what we had last year,” Conlon said.
A miscued Olympic pass found Player of the Match Keira Bobbin on the halfway line, who dribbled from midfield before cutting inside onto her right boot just outside the box. Bobbin’s near-post strike past the now wrong-footed Olympic keeper, Jelena Josipovic, put Belconnen up 2-0 on 30 minutes.
“I’m quite happy with my performance today. The goal was a nice touch (from) a bit of an individual run. It’s a really good feeling,” Bobbin said post-match.
Six minutes later, Belconnen found the back of the net again. Belconnen attacker Alyssa Di-Campli’s perfectly timed run found her in space to receive a through-ball behind the Olympic defensive line. Di-Campli gracefully placed her shot bottom corner to make it 3-0.
Olympic’s hopes of mounting a comeback were dashed on the stroke of halftime as Belconnen scored their fourth. A perfectly weighted corner found Ailish McDonagh, who powerfully headed the ball into the roof of the net in the fifth minute of injury time.
Belconnen took no time to get things moving in the second half, scoring 48 seconds after the break. Bobbin found herself in space once again with a clear sight of goal, but this time opted to pass instead of shoot. She played the ball into the oncoming path of Di-Campli, who scored her second in the bottom corner.
Olympic finally found the back of the net through the individual brilliance of former Belconnen player Leah Carnegie. A Belconnen clearance found Carnegie, 40 yards out, who struck the ball first time. The ball sailed high in the air before dropping between the crossbar and the hand of Belconnen keeper, Matilde Laurel-Tighe.
Olympic found some structure off the back of Carnegie’s strike, limiting Belconnens chances and preventing any further damage. That, however, was not the game plan from Conlon, who wanted his side to continue their dominance after the break.
“I tried to still set them some goals in the second half and it looked like that was going to happen because we scored straight away, and then I think they clocked off,” Conlon admitted.
Belconnen now look to next week’s away trip against Tuggeranong FC, while Olympic will host Gungahlin FC.
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Location: Kaleen Enclosed Oval
Kickoff: 15:00
Score: Belconnen United 5 – 1 Olympic FC
Goalscorers: Belconnen: Martens (15′), Bobbin (30′), Di-Campli (37′, 45′), McDonough (45+5′) Olympic: Carnegie (51′)
Cards: Yellow: Belconnen: Bobbin (33′), Corry (72′), Pyke (79′) Olympic: Peric (63′), Brown (77′) Red: N/A