While the stocks may have been enjoying a little holiday rest, the A-League Women was serving up its usual goodness as teams approach the halfway point of the season.
Some clubs collected plenty of points with Melbourne City, Canberra United, and Adelaide United enjoying undefeated streaks over this period.
Other sides struggled with Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney picking up a lone point each in this stretch of games.
For others, some unwanted streaks were broken. Sydney FC finally scored a goal after five games without one but couldn't get back in the winner's circle.
On the flip side, the Newcastle Jets' win over the Sky Blues halted a four-game losing run.
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Adelaide United
Stocks Up: Adelaide are nowhere near where they would like to be on the table but their results over the last few weeks have shown positive glimpses. Seven points from their three games, including two clean sheets thanks to Ilona Melegh, is exactly the kind of run which can push the Reds up the ladder. And some important contributions from the likes of Erin Healy, Emily Hodgson, and Emily Condon never go astray either.
Stocks Down: Those glimpses are going to have to turn into more consistent goal scoring. The Reds scored more goals in their 5-2 victory over Western Sydney than they have in their eight other games this season combined (four). Only Sydney FC have been shut out more often this season -- six times compared to Adelaide's five.
Brisbane Roar
Stocks Up: You never forget your first goal and Ava Piazza made sure hers was very memorable. The 20-year-old was able to rush onto a ball that had dribbled out of the box and while her first touch was a bit heavy, she was granted the time and space to launch a strike from distance. It squeaked in under the crossbar before hitting the back of the net to give the Roar a 2-1 lead in what would eventually become a 2-2 draw with Wellington.
Stocks Down: Grace Kuilamu has suffered an ACL injury with Brisbane Roar confirming the news last week. The 18-year-old had scored three goals in her six appearances for Brisbane and will be missed from the Roar's attack. Unfortunately, Kuilamu is now a two-time member of the worst club in football, having torn her ACL back in 2023 at just 16.
Canberra United
Stocks Up: The view was pretty nice for Canberra for much of the festive break with the team in green top of the table. While they've since had to settle for second behind a rampaging Melbourne City, Canberra has been building a strong run of form. Not only have they ticked off big wins against fellow title contenders, they've consistently picked up points, currently sitting on a seven-game unbeaten run with only two draws in that spell to boot.
Stocks Down: Canberra might be thinking about what could have been after their 1-0 win over the Jets. They out shot their opponents 32 to 10 (10 to 1 on target). Michelle Heyman led the way with nine shots, Josie Aulicino recorded six, while Emma Hawkins had four with three on target. It took a 93rd minute chip from Sienna Dale to finally beat Anna Leat in the Newcastle goal but Canberra could have, and should have, had a nice boost to their goal difference.
Central Coast Mariners
Stocks Up: In the early stages of the season, Kennedy White and Bente Jansen put their names forward as golden boot contenders. In the following weeks, Matildas strikers Michelle Heyman and Holly McNamara put their names forward as many fans expected. What fans probably didn't expect was Central Coast attacker Annalise Rasmussen leading the scorers race at this point in the campaign. With eight goals in total and six in her last five appearances, the local product has been excellent for the Mariners as they continue to pick up important points.
Stocks Down: What is an A-League season without a little existential threat? Central Coast as a whole has been placed in the interim control of the APL, as explained by Joey Lynch in the men's version of these stocks. Mariners fans will be hoping for a smooth, speedy sale process and minimal disruption to the teams but it's never a good look when the league has to take the reins of a club.
Melbourne City
Stocks Up: Across the festive period, Melbourne City were one of the teams who played four times, a byproduct of Champions League-related postponements and other catch-up matches, and they did not drop a single point. Four games, four wins, eight goals scored, and only three conceded. This run has seen them rise to the top of the table even though they still have up to three games in hand on some teams.
Stocks Down: When you're hot, you're hot. It's hard to find too many faults with this City side over the festive period.
Melbourne Victory
Stocks Up: Snatching a point from the jaws of defeat is always a relief. Scoring three unanswered goals in the space of four injury-time minutes to steal that point adds a bit of flair and drama to that relief and that's exactly what Melbourne Victory did against the Mariners. While they won't be happy about being 3-0 down, they'll be delighted with the fight and grit they showed to dig themselves out of the hole they found themselves in.
Stocks Down: Victory picked up only one point in their three games since we last checked in which sees them sitting in fourth on the ladder but surrounded by teams who have games in hand. After her hot start, Kennedy White has scored only once in her last six games. While she isn't solely responsible for scoring Melbourne Victory's goals, there is no doubt she will be disappointed she hasn't been able to hit the back of the net as frequently.
Newcastle Jets
Stocks Up: The Jets snapped a four-game losing streak with an important come-from-behind 2-1 win over Sydney FC, picking up three points and heaping more hurt on their intrastate rivals in the process. Charlotte Lancaster's goal in the 91st minute was spectacular, with the Jet receiving the ball just inside her own half. With acres of space in front of her, and options either side of her, she elected to go it alone. It was too good for Heather Hinz in the Sydney goal, who had been strong for most of the game, sailing past the diving keeper.
Stocks Down: While some enjoyed merry festive periods, Newcastle fans were served up a fair few lumps of coal. A three-game winless run was stopped with their win over Sydney. But losses to Canberra, Perth, and the Mariners saw them struggle to score.
Perth Glory
Stocks Up: After a four-game losing run, Perth have won four of their last five games, picking up victories against Adelaide, the Jets, and the Wanderers. And at the heart of those wins were some spectacular goals. Susan Phonsongkham was on target directly from a free kick outside the box against the Wanderers, while Ella Lincoln capped off her goal -- and the win -- with a backflip that would have had Glory reminiscing on the Sam Kerr days.
Stocks Down: The one blip in this current positive run is a 3-1 loss to the ladder-leading Melbourne City. And while Holly McNamara and the rest of the City attack are unstoppable at the best of times, the Glory defence weren't at their best. Tijan McKenna couldn't protect the ball on the edge of the box after good pressure from Chinaza Uchendu before the ball found its way to an unmarked McNamara for one of her three goals. The Matildas striker was then able to beat two Glory defenders in a foot race for City's third goal.
Sydney FC
Stocks Up: The good news for Sydney FC is they've broken one unwanted streak thanks to Amelia Cassar's spectacular long-range effort. Before her strike, Sydney FC hadn't scored a goal in five games -- two games longer than their previous longest drought. Cassar was able to intercept a pass and go on a run before seeing the Jets goalkeeper off her line. She unleashed her shot from well outside the box to give the Sky Blues a much needed goal.
Stocks Down: The bad news for Sydney FC is Cassar's goal was not enough to see them earn a win. They are one game away from equalling their all-time winless streak of seven games which occurred back in 2017. No result in isolation is overly damning outside of the 7-0 thumping at the hands of Wellington. But the lack of goals is hurting them. Badly. And they need to turn things around quickly if they want to be talking about finals.
Wellington Phoenix
Stocks Up: Makala Woods was brought in as a replacement for midfielder Tessel Middag who ruptured her ACL earlier in the season. The American striker immediately made a great impression on her new club, scoring on debut in her side's 2-1 loss to Melbourne City. The good news for Nix fans is they have a forward who has shown they can score goals.
Stocks Down: The bad news is Woods is going to have to cover more attacking firepower than originally planned. It is a shame when any player goes down with an ACL injury and that is certainly the case for Wellington attacker Sabitra Bhandari. 'Samba' currently leads the Phoenix's goal scoring tally and was always a threat when on the park. She was also a prime example of how the A-League can better engage with Asian talent; the striker was drawing hordes of Nepalese fans who were so excited to see their national hero playing football.
Western Sydney Wanderers
Stocks Up: The 100 game milestone in the A-League Women has become a lot more common than it once was but is no less significant and since the last round of stocks two Western Sydney Wanderers have brought up their tons. Sham Khamis and Danika Matos joined an ever-growing list of players to hit a century of appearances, with Matos the first women's player to play every game of the milestone at the club. Both of these women's contributions have been so important to the league and Western Sydney.
Stocks Down: Unfortunately the results weren't as celebratory over the New Year period with the Wanderers picking up a single point from their four games played. Most concerningly, the leakiest defence in the league continued to leak with five goals conceded against the Reds, three conceded against Wellington and Perth, and a single goal against when they faced Canberra.
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