Teen gun breaks Kerr record as Sydney beat Roar in ALW
Anna Harrington and Joanna Guelas |
Teenager Willa Pearson has broken Sam Kerr’s 17-year-old record in becoming the youngest player to score in the A-League Women as Sydney FC beat Brisbane Roar 4-0.
And Western Sydney blew a golden opportunity to bolster their slim finals hope, coughing up an early lead to draw 1-1 with Newcastle Jets.
Sydney were dominant from the start of Friday’s game at Spencer Park, claiming their first victory under interim coach James Slaveski.
It was a huge missed opportunity for Brisbane (22 points), who had a chance to keep the pressure on leaders Melbourne City (26) but instead sit fifth.
Sydney took the lead in the 47th minute when Brisbane failed to clear a corner and Mackenzie Hawkesby beat Momo Hayashi and finished at the near post.
Twelve minutes later, Abbey Lemon curled a superb ball into the mixer and Pearson, brought on as a halftime substitute at right-back, slid in to score.
Already the youngest ever ALW player, having debuted as a 14-year-old, Pearson became the youngest goal scorer at 15 years and 51 days.
Kerr scored her first goal for Perth aged 15 years and 88 days in December 2008.
“Oh my gosh, definitely not a feat I thought I’d have,” Pearson told Paramount Plus.
“But very happy and very proud to get a win with this team.
“As soon as I saw that ball go, I was like ‘I’ve gotta get up otherwise I’m gonna cop it’.
“I tried to get up there and just slid in and it happened to come off.”
In the 68th minute, Panamanian Riley Tanner beat a defender and rifled home a third.
Sydney completed the rout in the 93rd minute when Hawkesby sent a searching ball towards Skye Halmarick, who rounded Chloe Lincoln and scored her first ALW goal on her 18th birthday.
Earlier, Wanderers rising star Talia Younis nailed a long-range goal within the opening 45 seconds at CommBank Stadium after Jets winger Josie Allen coughed up possession.
Unmarked in the corridor and gifted an abundance of time by the Jets defence, Younis fired from outside the box and her shot deflected favourably off the post.
But the home side lost Young Matildas midfielder Younis to a suspected adductor injury in the 41st minute.
Younis went down after attempting to shepherd Jets winger Kelli Brown.
Newcastle equalised through prolific striker Melina Ayres in the 87th minute.
Ayres scored her 41st career goal – meaning she has scored against every team – after teammate Sophie Hoban brilliantly outworked Wanderers centre-back Wang Ying to deliver the cutback.
Western Sydney, last year’s wooden spooners, remain 10th (16 points) – four points off sixth place.
While falling short of their first away victory over the Wanderers since 2018, the Jets at least snap a three-game losing streak and move to eighth (17 points).
AAP
