[ad_1]
Holly McNamara’s chance to play for the Matildas again could be over before it began after a heroic match winning effort left her injured.
On Saturday McNamara, 20, was named in Tony Gustvasson’s 23-woman squad to play Canada in a two-match friendly series early next month.
Just a little more than 24 hours later her dreams came crashing down with the rising star suffering a suspected ACL tear — her second in as many years.
McNamara went down in the box but not before she scored the match-winning goal for Melbourne City in the dying minutes of the game.
It was her second late goal of the match in their impressive 3-2 comeback win over the Jets.
Her reaction as she fell to the ground showed McNamara knew her injury was more than just a knock.
She was stretchered off the field.
The speedy winger had been a likely contender to be named in the Matilda’s World Cup squad after a breakout performance at the AFC Cup in 2022.
But she ruptured her ACL the following month and wasn’t able to recover in time for World Cup selection.
City are yet to make an announcement regarding the extent of McNamara’s injury.
If it is an ACL it won’t be the first of the season: Sydney captain Natalie Tobin, Roar’s Grace Kuilamu and Phoenix’s Grace Wisnewski have all suffered the same season ending injury so far.
Erin Smith reveals her likes and dislikes from round 5 of the A-League Women’s competition in The Tackle.
ROUND 5 LIKES
GLORY UNSTOPPABLE
Young star Hana Lowry has ensured the team from the west’s unbeaten streak continues with a match-saving goal in what could well be the game of the season.
Glory struck first in the 24th minute when Lowry found the net.
The Victory’s Rachel Lowe then score in the 79th and 84th minutes to put the Melbourne club ahead.
Despite being down a goal and the clock running out, Glory didn’t panic.
A brilliant piece of team play helped the side tear through the Victory’s defence and Lowry equalised with just seconds to spare.
It was a standout game from both teams but especially the Victory, which was without Emily Gielnik, Emma Checker and Beattie Gould.
While it was just the Victory’s second win of the season, the side’s ability to match it with the competition leader proved they would be contenders this season.
BACK IN ACTION
Sydney’s whirlwind trip to Uzbekistan for the AFC Club Championships does not appear to have affected its form.
The Sky Blues locked in a big win over Adelaide United without Cortnee Vine.
English import Fiona Worts was a standout in the 3-1 win with two goals just six minutes apart.
While Sydney is down the bottom of the ladder, it has only played three games compared to the five of most other sides.
Emily van Egmond was also back in action after being announced last week as a guest signing to play four matches with Newcastle.
She marked the occasion with a goal but didn’t quite get the fairytale ending with the Jets throwing away their 2-0 lead against Melbourne City in the final minutes of the game to lose 3-2.
ROUND 5 DISLIKES
VAR FROM OK
Humans make mistakes, it happens.
There is technology available to help ensure they don’t affect the outcome of a match but it isn’t used in the women’s A-League.
VAR isn’t used in most women’s leagues around the world but the APL should take a stand, be the first and set the A-League apart from other competitions around the world.
Had the referees of women’s competition had the same access to the technology as those refereeing men’s matches, fans would not have been fuming at the end of the Central Coast-Wellington Phoenix clash.
The controversial moment in the game should have been dealt with by the referees – it happened right in front of them – but access to VAR would have given them a back-up.
There would have been an opportunity to review the incident, which unfolded quickly and unexpectedly.
The Phoenix’s Mariana Speckmaier blatantly kicked out at the Mariners’ Jasmine Wardlow and connected with her lower leg.
It was uncalled for and dangerous. Slightly higher and it could have done serious damage to Wardlow’s knee. As it was, a limping Wardlow was forced off the field.
It should have been a red card and Mariners coach Emily Husband called for disciplinary action.
Players questioned why no card had been given.
Match commentators called for a red card and said it would have been shown had VAR been available.
It happened in front of the assistant referee but after a quick discussion with the on-field referee, not even a yellow card was given.
The lack of action from the referee frustrated Mariners players and it was no real surprise when Tarryn King performed a rash tackle in the 92nd minute and picked up a yellow card.
Players from both sides then became physical and the referee lost control of the game.
While reducing the Phoenix to 10 players for the final few minutes of the game was unlikely to have much of an impact on the result, it set a precedent for the rest of the season.
The Phoenix would also be without Speckmaier for at least next week’s game.
So while humans are entitled to make mistakes and it’s impossible for referees to see everything, technology exists to avoid these blatant mistakes.
GAME OFF
It’s unacceptable in our top-flight women’s competition for a game to be postponed due to no field being available.
The Western Sydney Wanderers and Canberra United game was supposed to be played in Bathurst but the pitch was not up to scratch and the Wanderers’ home field was out of action for scheduled field maintenance, so the match had to be postponed.
I highly doubt the same would happen for a men’s match.
With no men’s games on this weekend due to the international break, the club could very likely have played at CommBank Stadium because no events were listed for this weekend.
However, it’s likely the club was not willing to pay the extra costs to hire the stadium.
It might not seem like a big deal but it is for fans who organised to travel to Bathurst and it will be for Canberra, which has now gone two weeks without a match.
[ad_2]
