Brisbane Roar head coach Jake Goodship expects ladder leaders Sydney FC to struggle in the back half of the W-League season.
After the Roar’s 4-1 demolition of the league’s top team, the head coach is confident his side will continue their strong form.
Goodship is concerned however whether Sydney FC will be able to finish the W-League season as strong as they started, having not played either Melbourne side.
“They have been great. They have also had a draw where they haven’t played the Melbourne teams,” Goodship said.
“We played both Melbourne teams twice in the first six rounds so I think they will have a challenging end of the season.”
Goodship was pleased his side have turned around their initial goal-scoring misfortunes and picked up six points in their last two outings.
“The players were fantastic and put a real good shift in and grind at times, particularly against Wanderers,” he said.
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“Our focus turned to Sydney and you could see how dominant we were against a good side; that won’t happen to them often this season.”
While Roar captain Claire Polkinghorne was prepared for tough games against Wanderers and Sydney FC, she was satisfied the Roar could manage wins in both matches.
“I thought against Wanderers we were a bit slow to get going and probably didn’t play our best football and, in the end, we made it really hard for ourselves,” Polkinghorne said.
“We backed it up really well and against Sydney we put in a really dominant performance which is pleasing.”
Both Polkinghorne and Goodship praised 17-year-old Jamilla Rankin for her outstanding performance and grabbing a brace against Sydney.
Goodship said Sydney’s front three, including up and coming forward Cortnee Vine, were no threat for Rankin.
“For Sydney to take their front three off, Cortnee Vine as well has been tagged to be a Matilda, I thought she was no real threat for Jamilla,” he said.
“Jamilla was fantastic. Not just defensively but going forward as well and made Cortnee get back into her back third which is unheard of as well this season.”
Polkinghorne said Rankin has been performing well all season.
“She is the type of player that will rise to the big occasion and she had a big job on the weekend,” she said.
“She created chances, scored goals and as a left-back, that is more than you can ever ask for.
“She is a good young player with a great attitude and always willing to work hard and learn so yeah really happy for her.”
The captain, who managed a second-half goal against Sydney, is hoping the Roar can emulate a similar performance against Perth Glory on Sunday evening.
“Obviously, they are going to be a tough team. I think they knocked us off last season when we went over to Perth,” Polkinghorne said.
“They are always a tough team to play against and the players they have got, they have played a lot together.”
Goodship echoed his captain’s sentiment, saying his side will need to pay Glory close attention and plan for a tough encounter.
“They have a good coach in Alex coming in this year so they will be organised, they will have structure about them, they’ll be patient with how they want to play,” he said.
Feature Image Credit: Kyoko Kurihara
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