Wanderers rue missed opportunities in loss to Roar

The Western Sydney Wanderers were left frustrated at missed chances as a dominant first half was not rewarded in a 2-0 loss to Brisbane Roar.

A strong first half in which the Red & Black controlled play was spoiled with two lapses of concentration and the home team were not able to recover in the second half.
 
Coming out of the blocks like they had something to prove, the Wanderers could have taken the lead four times in the opening 20 minutes.
 
Last week’s goal scorer, Katie Stengel, had a hat-trick of chances with Brisbane’s keeper making two good saves while one effort went over the bar.
 
Another scorer from last week, Paige Nielsen, also had an opportunity but her chip over the keeper was cleared by a back-tracking defender.
 
While the Wanderers were dominant, Roar looked dangerous on the break with Katrina Gorry guilty of being wasteful when she found herself almost on the six-yard line but mis-hit her shot into the face of Ellie Carpenter.
 
The counter-attack proved to be a strong weapon for the Brisbane outfit and they took the lead midway through the half after a cross found its way to Clare Polkinghorne who put the ball into the net with one touch.
 
It was a goal against the run of play but Roar didn’t mind and capitalised on the back of some very good build-up play for Tameka Butt to make it 2-0 only ten minutes later.
 
Stengel hit the post for the Wanderers shortly before half time with the Wanderers’ first half summed up as the follow up shot stopped agonisingly short of the line when a Roar defender cleared the goal-bound strike.
 
The second half was a more tepid affair with the Roar – content with their lead – sitting deep to successfully deny Western Sydney of any potential chances.
 
With the game less of a spectacle, Jada Whyman produced the only two moments of note with two impressive saves from decent Brisbane shots.
 
The Wanderers have the bye next week to lick their wounds while Brisbane prepare for a Titanic struggle against Melbourne City on Sunday 4 December.
 
Western Sydney Wanderers 0
Brisbane Roar 2 (Clare Polkinghorne 28’ Tameka Butt 38’)
 
Western Sydney Wanderers: Jada Whyman (GK), Alix Roberts, Caitlin Cooper (C), Alex Arlitt, Ellie Carpenter, Kendall Fletcher, Paige Nielsen, Eliza Ammendolia (Chloe O’Brien), Erica Halloway, Rachel Lowe (Georgia Plessas), Katie Stengel (Sarah Yatim)
 
Unused subs: Casey Dumont (GK)