Our Wander Women head into their home match against the Perth Glory full of confidence after recording a drought breaking win last weekend.
Get your tickets to the match here.
The Wanderers headed into their doubleheader clash against Western United under pressure, being winless and trying to break a long run without scoring, but they ended both in spectacular fashion.
They scored the opener through Sienna Saveska’s olimpico after nine minutes, and had four by the 40th minute, three of them being scored by Saveska.
They were unlucky not to score from the spot, but they eventually got a fifth goal through Danika Matos, who broke a goalscoring drought of her own in one of the great moments of the match, with her teammates swamping her in celebration.
But the day belonged to Saveska, who recorded just the second hat-trick in the club’s history.
It was a remarkable performance from Robbie Hooker’s side as they dominated from start to finish, playing free flowing attacking football and pulling the United defence all over the park.
It was the perfect occasion for well over 2,000 fans to watch the Red and Black in action, and they will now look for a similar performance back at the familiar surrounds of Wanderers Football Park on Friday night.
The Wanderers will fancy themselves against a Glory side just two places above them, and who they did the double over last season.
Sophie Harding was Perth’s nemesis, scoring twice in the away match earlier in the season, then scoring an outrageous goal in the return fixture at Wanderers Football Park to secure an important 1-0 win.
Perth have attempted to recover from a difficult offseason where they lost key import Millie Farrow, as well as the likes of Hanna Lowry, Grace Jale and Morgan Aquino.
They have two former Wanderers players in young guns Ischia Brooking and Ella Abdul-Massih, and have a new coach in Stephen Peters, who excelled in the NPL NSW competition for many years.
Perth have won just two games this season, though one did come last round against high flying Adelaide at home.
They took the lead through Naomi Thomas-Chinnama in the 24th minute, and despite the Reds scoring a leveller in the 70th minute, Perth retook the lead just five minutes later when Gabby Hollar scored a penalty.
Matilda McNamara’s red card with less than 10 minutes to go eased the pressure on Perth, and they iced their victory thanks to Hollar’s second in the first minute of stoppage time.
They have had some tough days on the road, losing 5-2 to Melbourne City and 3-0 to Brisban, and the Wanderers will be hoping to add to their travel pains on Friday.
Whilst Holly Caspers has unfortunately suffered another injury setback, Cushla Rue stepped up in her place with a goal and an assist last week, whilst Talia Younis continues to shine even at such a young age.
Ella Buchanan and Gemma Ferris were also good in defence, and will hope to continue in the backline in the absence of Maddy McComasky and Paige Hayward.
A win for the Wanderers would hopefully take them off the bottom of the table and also above their crosstown rivals heading into the Christmas period.
