The Wanderers suffer their first league loss at home in a closely contested 1-0 defeat against a table topping UNSW side.
An early UNSW set-piece goal was all there was to separate the Wanderers and the visiting side on Sunday at Wanderers Football Park, ending the Wanderers 3-match winning streak.
The Wanderers bare no fault in effort despite the result, an impressive defensive display kept the visiting side unable to score from open-play alongside several passages of attack throughout the fixture that made the visiting UNSW work just as hard to defend their goal.
The visitors were quick to attack in the fixture, most notably before the opening goal was a chance from Milan Hammond that curled over the Wanderers crossbar.
It was the 23rd minute of the game that saw the sole goal of proceedings as Lexi Moreno scored directly from a corner to get UNSW ahead in the fixture.
The Wanderers did not wait long to respond with attacking chances of their own, Miriam Zumaya most notably with two shooting chances shortly after the opening goal.
In the first of these chances, Zumaya receives the ball in the box and turns on the inside of her defender creating space for a shot, trailing right of the UNSW goal.
In the second and most notable Wanderers chance of the game, Zumaya runs onto a flicked ball and unleashes a shot from distance, just narrowly skimming over the top left corner of the UNSW goal.
The Wanderers throughout the remainder of the fixture displayed an unrelenting defensive resilience. Toward the end of the opening half, Savannah Murray exemplified this performance with a standing challenge that drew cheers and applause from Wanderers faithful in attendance.
More chances came for the Wanderers in the second half, however, they were at times unable to be met with the final ball required to level scores.
The visiting side found themselves reserved to more speculative efforts through the closing half as they were unable to break down the Wanderers defence.
Powerful strikes from Lexi Moreno and Aya Yamahata were able to break through the Wanderers backline, however unable to be kept down, floating over the fingertips and goal of Annabelle Croll.
And such, the fixture ends at the deficit established early in the game. The Wanderers suffering only their second lost of the season to one of the competition’s strongest sides.
The Red and Black should still walk away proud of the performance that kept the game open to the very end of proceedings, never allowing the visitors to run away with the game despite having more chances in the tie.
The Wanderers, who are currently third on the NPL Women’s NSW ladder, now look ahead. Hoping to regain the momentum once held in the unbeaten run that opened the season and the winning streak that directly followed the side’s first loss.
