Victory see red as Canberra post 3-1 ALW win

Victory centre back Bunge was sent off in the 32nd minute of Sunday's match, but the visitors were still able to take a shock lead early in the second half through Kennedy White.

Their joy was short lived, with Canberra slotting three goals in 13 minutes to seal all three points in front of their home fans at McKellar Park.

The equaliser came in the 62nd minute when Sasha Grove put away her shot after Josie Aulicino's initial strike had rocketed off the upright.

Canberra hit the lead just a minute after the restart when Mary Stanic-Floody, who had only just been subbed on, received a pass from Michelle Heyman and unleashed a 24-yard floater.

And it was effectively game over in the 75th minute when defender Tegan Bertolissio rose high to head home at the far post from a corner.

The result catapulted Canberra (21 points) from sixth to second on the ladder, but they will drop to third if Wellington beat Newcastle later on Sunday.

Victory (17 points) remain in seventh.

Canberra tallied a whopping 31 shots - 17 of which were on target - during their win, but it wasn't until their second-half goal splurge they were able to break the game open.

"It's a bit deflating, isn't it?" Victory goalkeeper Newbon told Paramount.

"We tried our best. We were a man down for a while. Everyone had a bit of a heart at least until the end, and we took it to them - we scored first."

Bunge was given a straight red after her shove on Michelle Heyman was deemed to have denied an obvious goalscoring opportunity.

Heyman was about to run onto her teammate's pass about 35m out from goal before she was bundled over.

But the red card was somewhat controversial given Victory defender Kayla Morrison was running back hard and would have been in a decent position to block Heyman's path towards goal.

"I don't think she was last man," Newbon said of Bunge.

Victory entered the second half with an attacking mindset despite being down a player, and it paid dividends in the 49th minute when White rounded an opponent before firing in a right-foot rocket to stun the home crowd.

But it was all Canberra from that point on as the home side made the most of their numerical advantage to pepper Victory's goal.

Australian Associated Press