Western United Weekly Wrap: February 28-March 3

Western United saw 54 goals scored and 10 wins from 11 matches across Isuzu UTE A-League Men, Liberty A-League Women, VPL 1, JBNPL and futsal competitions last week.

It was a thrilling round of matches for the Green and Black with a near perfect slate of results as excitement continues to build ahead of the Club’s move home to Tarneit.

Western United Liberty A-League Women

Western United 4-2 Canberra United

Goal scorers: Hannah Keane (1’, 14’, 64’), C.Logarzo (p.10’)

It was a day full of historic moments for Western United who put on a blistering first-half display to overpower Canberra United.

In the Club’s last ever Liberty A-League match at City Vista Pavilion and Sports Field, Hannah Keane stole the show.

The American opened the scoring after 15 seconds – the quickest goal in Western United history and second quickest ever in the Liberty A-League – and went on to score a hat-trick, becoming the first Western United women’s player to do so.

Chloe Logarzo added the other goal from the penalty spot in another scintillating performance from the Matildas star, as Kat Smith’s side secured a sixth straight victory.

Read the full match report

Western United Isuzu UTE A-League Men

Western United 1-0 Perth Glory

Goal scorer: N.Botic (53’)

Just like the women’s team at City Vista, Saturday afternoon marked Western United’s final game at Mars Stadium in Ballarat.

John Aloisi’s men gave the loyal supporters in Ballarat a fitting send off with a tremendous performance from start to finish.

A frustrating opening half saw United unable to make good on that dominance with the opening goal, but Noah Botic soon saw to that with an early goal in the second-half after Josh Risdon’s pass.

United survived a scare at the end to hold onto the clean sheet – Matt Sutton’s first at the Club – and secure a second win in four matches.

Read the full match report

Western United VPL 1 Men

Bentleigh Greens 1-7 Western United

Goal scorer: J.Najdovski (5’, 28’, p.59’), M.Leonard (13’), Z.Lisolajski (39’), A.Walatee (45+3), N.Koek (89’)

After three narrow and unfortunate defeats to begin the campaign, Western United’s senior side exploded into life against Bentleigh Greens.

Facing a difficult away trip to the eastern suburbs against a former top flight side, the Green and Black scored early and never looked back.

Watch all seven of Western United’s stunning goals in last week’s VPL 1 Men rout

Of the seven goals scored, five came in a blistering first half as Diogo Ferreira’s side lay down a marker for the remainder of the campaign.

You would have a tough task picking out the best of the seven strikes – there was a slick team move to set up Mark Leonard, a blast from Zach Lisolajski and a blistering counter-attack which saw Jordan Lauton set up Abel Walatee.

Substitutes Sammy Dib and Nicolas Koek combined for the game’s final goal, while Jake Najdovski took the plaudits with a hat-trick, taking his season tally to a league-leading five through the opening four rounds.

Western United U23 VPL 1 Men

Bentleigh Greens 0-1 Western United

Goal scorer: K.Dover (30’)

Western United’s Under 21’s maintained their unbeaten start to the new season with a tight 1-0 win over Bentleigh just before the Seniors’ big win.

It was a physical affair but United remained largely in control for its majority, helped by the opening goal coming after just 10 minutes.

Christian Naveen was the scorer after he worked some space on the right flank, getting into the box and burying a strike across the goal and into the bottom left corner.

Max Clarke’s side couldn’t add to the scoreboard but saw to it that Bentleigh weren’t able to either, ensuring the team remains unbeaten through the first four weeks of the season.

Western United Junior Academy teams

Joining the Isuzu UTE A-League Men side in playing in Ballarat, the four Junior Academy teams enjoyed a fruitful day at Morshead Park against Ballarat City FC.

The Under 14’s continued their rampant start to 2024 with a 9-0 drubbing. Alazar Demisse and Baran Aras stood out with braces as the team won its fifth straight game to start the season, boasting a stunning 22 goals and none conceded.

The Under 15’s have been just as good and ran out 8-0 winners in their match with John Woldegiorgis and Christian Lykopoulos both scoring twice. They sit level with Brimbank Stallions at the top of their league table.

It was somewhat less straight forward for the Under 16’s and Under 18’s, but no less thrilling with goals galore across both contests.

Matthew Di Lorenzo continued his excellent form with a hat-trick to help guide the Under 16’s to a 5-2 triumph. He shares the joint lead in the golden boot standings with seven goals so far, with teammates Karl Leban (six) and Nahom Yohannes (five) close behind.

A young team in the Under 18’s then completed the day with their first win of the season, coming from behind in the game to win 3-2 in a thriller. Arham Islam scored the decisive goal just after the hour mark, converting from a penalty which he won himself.

Western United Junior Academy final results

Under 14’s

Ballarat City FC 0-9 Western United

Goal scorers: B.Aras (18’, 59’), Own Goal (24’), J.Macfarlane (27’), A.Demissie (28’, 38’), J.Pavlinusic (32’), B.Blewett (35’), A.Karaiskos (43’)

Under 15’s

Ballarat City FC 0-8 Western United

Goal scorers: C.Lykopoulos (17’, 50’), J.Woldegiorgis (21’, 61’), M.Catalano (33’), Z.Meilak (36’), N.Ghoshal (58’), Z.Chakik (69’)

Under 16’s

Ballarat City FC 2-5 Western United

Goal scorer: M.Di Lorenzo (5’, 46’, 66’), N.Yohannes (73’), J.Vonja (79’)

Under 18’s

Ballarat City FC 2-3 Western United

Goal scorer: A.Marmura (26’), Y.Kengni (44’), A.Islam (63’)

Western United Futsal

The entertainment continued throughout Western United’s futsal matches, although the women’s side fell just short of a victory with a 3-2 defeat to Fitzroy FC.

As he does just about every week, Elias Parthimos stole the show in both the senior and youth matches, winning the Player of the Match for both games.

In the seniors, he scored one and assisted three as Gui Costa’s team romped to a 7-1 win over FC Carlton Heart. Cooper Halfpenny added another two goals to his growing personal tally, while Ygor Suster also struck twice.

*Elias Parthimos leading the way. Graphic via Series Futsal Victoria*

Parthimos scored a hat-trick himself for the youth team, who defeated Hume FC 7-4. Muhammad El Sayegh scored twice, with the other two goals coming via Aden Hagi and an own goal.

The youth team is level on points at the top of the league alongside Northern Phoenix and FC Carlton Heart, having scored a league-high 42 goals.

The senior team is sitting in fifth place on the table while the women’s side is fourth.

Western United Futsal Final Results

Women

Western United 2-3 Fitzroy FC

Goal scorers: M.Cairns, L.Abdullatif

Men

Western United 7-1 FC Carlton Heart

Goal scorers: C.Halfpenny (x2), Y.Suster (x2), A.Angelatos, E.Parthimos, F.De Moraes

Youth

Western United 7-4 Hume FC

Goal scorers: E.Parthimos (x3), M.El Sayegh (x2), A.Hagi

Calder United junior girls

Calder United’s Under 13’s side secured a superb 2-0 win against Heidelberg United, handing their opponents their first loss of the season.

Page Koutsofta and Violet Smith continued their form with a goal each in the win, before the Under 15’s and Under 17’s each lost narrowly – 2-0 and 2-1 respectively.

Despite the defeat, Olivia Lazareska maintained her goal-scoring run for the Under 17’s and currently leads the competition with six goals to her name.