Bryleeh Henry scored her first Westfield W-League goals and Rosie Galea hit a brace as Western Sydney Wanderers clinched their first ever win in Victoria with a 3-0 win over Melbourne City.
Bryleeh Henry scored her first Westfield W-League goals and Rosie Galea hit a brace as Western Sydney Wanderers clinched their first ever win in Victoria with a 4-0 win over Melbourne City.
The Red and Black had not been victorious south of the NSW border in any of their previous 11 attempts but were well on their way to breaking that drought when the 17-year-old striker Henry slotted away a first-half double in the space of 26 minutes.
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Returning City goalkeeper and Australian international Melissa Barbieri pulled off several good saves on her first appearance since 2017 to keep the deficit at two for Rado Vidosic’s side.
But Rosie Galea applied two smashing strikes in the 82nd minute and 93rd minute respectively to ice an emphatic result for the visitors.
Key moments
Wanderers dominated proceedings from the onset with the pace of Teagan Collister proving difficult for City. There was no surprise when Collister was the source of Henry’s opening goal after getting down the right wing and sending a wonderful cross to the box where Henry nicked in front of City defender Naomi Thomas-Chinnamaand at the near post.
Henry had waited 10 games for her maiden strike in the competition and the teenager did not need to wait long before doubling her record. It came when via a lovely counter attack from the Wanderers that saw Irish international Julie-Ann Russell clip a great ball through to Collister, who found Henry unmarked at the back post.
If not for two fine saves from Barbieri, who was playing her first match between the sticks since 2017, the Wanderers may have stretched their advantage further. Barbieri made two fine saves from Georgia Yeoman-Dale, while Libby Copus-Brown’s corner was almost bundled over by the line by Collister as the hosts held on by a thread.
City enjoyed a good spell following the interval but were not able to penetrate the Wanderers defence. Alex Chidiac headed over from Hollie Palmer’s cross, while Sam Johnson got a strong head to Chinatsu Kira’s corner but sent that off target too.
City have not found the back of the net since their 3-2 defeat to Brisbane Roar on January 31, and those struggles in front of goal were set to continue as the Wanderers regained control of the contest.
Barbieri pulled off a great save from Russell after more enterprising wing play from Collister, and the City ‘keeper also remained on guard to keep out another close-range Henry strike.
But she could do nothing to stop Galea from adding two emphatic strikes late on. The first arrived when Collister released Leena Khamis down the right channel, with Galea applying the perfect first time finish.
And she added an exclamation mark to a memorable night out in Victoria by picking up a loose ball and driving in the fourth with virtually the last kick of the game.
