A Joanne Burgess 50th minute strike from outside the area gave Brisbane a 1-0 lead they held on to in 40 degree heat at Campbelltown stadium on Saturday afternoon.
A Joanne Burgess 50th minute strike from outside the area gave Brisbane a 1-0 lead they held on to in 40 degree heat at Campbelltown stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The loss was just Sydney-s second of the season, and for now denies the reigning Champions the opportunity to go top of the Westfield-s W-League. Sydney fought to the death with 10 players after Danielle Brogan was given her marching orders, but fell agonizingly short.
The heat had an obvious impact on the players in the opening stages of the game, with scrappy passes and poorly executed plays a recurring theme. The best chance of the tenacious start fell to Tameka Butt, who got on the end of a Clare Polkinghorne ball over the defence, though her attempted chip missed the target.
Despite the weather, Sydney were characteristically finding space in the midfield though their decision making was mediocre, emphasised when Leena Khamis found herself with space in the box but incorrectly opted to look for a teammate rather than take a shot.
Butt had yet another chance in the 22nd minute when she found herself with a lot of room on the edge of the area after a slick passage of passing, though her attempt rattled the crossbar, much to the despair of the buoyant midfielder.
Kyah Simon had a golden chance to add to her spectacular goal-scoring record when miscommunication at the back resulted in a failed offside trap for Brisbane. Teigen Allen-s cross from the deep allowed an unmarked Simon a chance but the striker couldn-t get a heavy enough touch on the ball to direct it towards goal.
Polkinghorne and Butt linked up one more on the stroke of half-time, with the skippers pin-point perfect cross finding Butt, though her header went well over.
The second half was only five minutes old when Brisbane opened the scoring through a strong effort from Burgess, who was lurking outside the area during Brisbane-s third corner of the match. Sydney desperately blocked two previous shots before the ball fell to Burgess whose shot went unsighted through a host of bodies before going in.
Red faces and the harsh Western Sydney sun weren-t the only things colour associated at Campbelltown stadium when, after 62 minutes, Brogan was shown a red card and conceded a penalty for bringing down substitute Lisa De Vanna. But the delight of Brisbane was temporarily halted when Poulos pulled off a fantastic save from De Vanna-s penalty.
Though the Roar quickly recovered from the disappointment, as their confidence reached new levels with fifteen minutes remaining, and De Vanna had three golden chances to double the visitors lead but was agonizingly denied on each occasion.
The first a clever touch over a rushing Poulos, though Teigen Allen cleared on the line before De Vanna again found herself through but her shot went just over the crossbar. Minutes later she hit the post after yet another enthusiastic run past the Sky Blues back four.
Sydney were relentlessly trying to get back into the match, but with Kylie Ledbrook having to leave the pitch with a knee injury, the Sky Blues attack lacked the flair and creativity that saw them beat this same opposition 4-1 in the opening round of the season.
The Sky Blues shot-stopper Poulos refused to say never when, with five minutes left, she spectacularly saved De Vanna-s fifth premium opportunity of the match from point-blank range. Two minutes later and Poulos pulled off an even better save, showing yet another De Vanna effort a strong diving hand. Another reaction stop straight after clocked up her fifth save of the afternoon.
Despite Sydney-s gallant efforts as the match came to an end, Brisbane held on to put them four points clear on top of the W-League.
