Adelaide United have recorded a dominant 1-0 A-League Women victory over Western Sydney at Coopers Stadium, while Central Coast have capitalised on a horror defensive error to beat Perth Glory 1-0.
Adelaide controlled proceedings against Western Sydney for most of the contest on Friday afternoon and enjoyed several chances but were forced to wait until midway through the second half to find a winner.
United went fourth with their fourth win of the season, two points behind Melbourne Victory and one clear of fifth-ranked Western United, who take on Brisbane Roar on Sunday.
Adelaide striker Fiona Worts should have broken the deadlock on 33 minutes.
Goalkeeper Claudia Jenkins bombed a long ball out of defence which flew over the Wanderers' static central defenders. Worts raced onto it and with just keeper Shamarin Khamis to beat, fired straight down the middle, hitting the body of the onrushing shot stopper.
With the last kick of the opening period, Worts fluffed arguably the easiest chance of the half.
Lucia Leon received the ball wide on the right and squared the ball across the edge of the six-yard box, where Worts was left unchecked. The English striker attempted to cushion a shot home but ended up skewing her effort wide from right in front with an open net beckoning.
The Reds continued in the same manner after the interval and on 64 minutes had another great chance to open the scoring.
Matilda McNamara broke out of the back and split the Wanderers’ defence with a perfect through-ball to release Dawber, who just had Khamis to beat.
But again, the Western Sydney custodian was quick off her line and denied the United attacker.
Adelaide finally found the back of the net on 67 minutes courtesy of substitute Erin Healy.
Emily Condon launched a free kick into the area and when the visitors failed to clear, Healy took control, found space and picked out the bottom corner with a sweeping left-foot effort.
In Perth, Central Coast defender Ashley Irwin cut a devastated figure after injuring her right knee in a first-half tackle.
Irwin immediately grabbed at her knee after clashing heavily with an opponent, and she was unable to play on.
The 24-year-old looked devastated as she sat on the bench, with the Mariners to sweat on scans.
Jade Pennock's 85th-minute opportunistic strike was enough to seal all three points for the Mariners, lifting them into equal fourth spot.
Glory only had themselves to blame for the goal, with Perth defender Naomi Chinnama and goalkeeper Casey Dumont caught in a horror mix-up well outside the box, allowing Pennock to pick off the ball and waltz in to an open goal.
