Adelaide United vs Western Sydney Wanderers

Summary

The playoff for 7th position kicked off at 1pm on the last day of the Championship between Adelaide United and Western Sydney Wanderers.

The Wanderers came out the better of the two teams agressively pushing forward and securing early goals. Luke David was instrumental in the centre of the court as he setup Natalie Russo for their first goal and then shortly afterward setup Ben Keyte for their second.

Adelaide wouldn’t sit back and some guard clashes marked a lift in intensity of the game. The Reds hit back with a classy strike putting them on the scoreboard. Adelaide needing only a draw to finish in 7th as the higher ranked team at the end of the group stage. The minutes continued to tick by with the Wanderers consistently keeping the ball in their attacking half. The referee would blow the whistle to finalise the first half with no further goals, Western Sydney leading 2-1.

In the second half, the Wanderers continued to pile on the pressure to crack the Adelaide line-up. Whilst United didn’t blink, Western Sydney were able to break through the defence. Experienced Wanderers stalwart Ben Keyte found himself on the scoresheet again with a nicely timely rebound shot from inside the area. Soon after the scoreboard clicked over again when a shot coming up the defence and rolling over the line for an own goal.

Nine minutes into the second half Adelaide breathed life back into the match when Travis Ashworth scored bringing the margin back to two. That only lasted a little while when Team USA marquee Natalie Russo setup Daniel O’Brien for his first goal of the Championship. It would be the last of the match.

Western Sydney Wanderers finishing on top with a 5-2 result to finish the Championship in 7th.