When you or your team have not scored since February 26, it is easy for doubts to emerge. However, Hannah Keane and Western United were back among the goals and winners on Saturday.
Keane snapped her three-game drought with a brace, to not only reclaim the lead in the Liberty A-League Golden Boot race with 13 goals but secure a 2-1 win over Western Sydney Wanderers at City Vista Recreation Reserve.
It was a confidence-boosting afternoon for the American striker and Western, who bounced back from a 3-0 loss to Canberra United.
“We’ve had a few not so good games. We were struggling a bit with confidence and to score goals,” Keane told Dub Zone post-match.
“I felt the pressure a bit because you have to score goals to win games and I wasn’t doing that and we weren’t winning.
“We made a promise to each other to belief in ourselves, even if things aren’t going well. Today I think everyone was so nice and the belief was there. We worked harder than we have in the past games because it means a lot to have confidence going into the finals.”
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Keane has been a revelation for Liberty A-League newcomers Western this season, going head-to-head with Canberra United legend Michelle Heyman in the top scorer standings.
But since Jess McDonald’s departure, she has found it tough to maintain her red-hot form.
The 29-year-old has felt the pressure. She has also got into her own head, trying to solve her goalscoring struggles.
“It’s really difficult,” Keane said of not scoring. “I’ve been on a lot of teams where the pressure isn’t always on me.
“I think other times I’ve been able to play it through to other people. A lot of the way we play and our style is that I’m sometimes the only one forward. So, a lot of the pressure lands on my shoulders.
“It’s really hard when you’re not doing well. I get in my head, I overthink things. I was really trying to challenge myself to relax, not think and just do it.”
But Keane and Western returned to winning ways, ensuring Sydney FC had to win their final match to claim a third consecutive Premiership.
The difference this week?
“Not get too frustrated with each other, which is something we’ve been struggling with,” she added.
“It’s a fine line to push each other without getting into arguments and fights and stuff. It just shows we want everyone to be better and to play the best they can.”
Report – AAP
A double from American striker Hannah Keane lifted her to top spot in the Isuzu UTE A-League Golden Boot race and handed Western United a 2-1 home win over Western Sydney Wanderers.
Keane scored once in each half to increase her season’s tally to 13, one ahead of Canberra’s Michelle Heyman, who will be in action on Sunday.
A near-post header from a 23rd-minute in-swinging corner from Tyla-Jay Vlajnic broke the deadlock at Melbourne’s City Vista Reservation Reserve.
Keane doubled Western’s advantage in the 55th minute when she read the bounce of a long ball better than Wanderers defender Gemma Ferris.
The forward raced into the penalty area where she drilled a precise drive past goalkeeper Sham Khamis.
Teenage substitute Sienna Saveska pulled one back for Wanderers in the 80th minute with a well-struck shot from the edge of the penalty area.
The win lifted Western into top spot above Sydney FC, but the latter have the chance to reclaim the lead – and with it the Premier’s Plate – with victory in their final-round game against Newcastle Jets later on Saturday.
It was a deserved morale-boosting win for Western who have limped towards the finals in recent weeks and had not won a game on the field since late February.
They had lost their three previous matches, though one of those results – a 2-0 defeat by Brisbane – was changed to a 3-0 win for Western after the Roar fielded an ineligible player.
Angie Beard almost doubled Western’s lead in the 42nd minute, but her goal-bound shot from the edge of the area was tipped over the bar by Khamis in the Wanderers goal.
Western Sydney did not have a shot on target until added time in the first half, but looked more threatening after the break.
The result means Western Sydney completed the season without registering an away win, having drawn two and lost seven.
They are winless in their last 13 away games in total, with their last victory on the road coming back in January 2022.
