FC Bulleen Lions lit up the scoreboard with an emphatic win over Caulfield United Cobras in which nine unanswered goals fell at David Barro Stadium on Monday night.
Melbourne Victory winger Beattie Goad grabbed an emphatic four, while there were five singles spread across the rest of the team.
In only the first fifteen minutes Caulfield keeper Jaye Todd must have felt more like a pinball flipper having to block, parry, catch and return balls coming thick and fast her way from a heavily persistent attack.
Bulleen were relentless in their attack, pushing Jess Tay and the dangerous Goad forward repeatedly to lay siege to the visitors goal.
Goad initially found it hard to line up the target, but an intercepted pass from Todd was followed up well as she finished and put her first goal of the night on the board.
With a flurry of activity, Goad broke through the defensive lines twice more within five minutes to grab a hat-trick, simultaneously shocking Caulfield and lifting the Lions to what most would class as comfortable scoreline.
Emily Coppock followed up Goad’s start, heading home a lofted ball from Cindy Lay to add another to the tally and Caulfield’s defensive structure started to suffer under the pressure.
Tessa Sernio finished off the half with a goal of her own following a deft cut back by Melbourne Victory stalwart Caitlin Friend and the teams headed to change rooms for the break.
Caulfield restarted the half with fresh legs looking to get into the game but Jess Tay brought them back down with an early tap in goal.
Goad followed up with a stunning fourth for the night before being substituted for Dani Gudelj; a good night’s work.
On the wing Caulfield started pushing back, with midfielder Victoria Argyropoulos repeatedly pushing the Bulleen defence back.
Facing a heavy deficit the visitors resolutely tried to break the Lion’s back line but faced harsh competition to get close to the home goal.
As the game wound down, Bulleen pushed back against the defence with substitute Ash Beagley running on to a through ball and getting past Todd to calmly finish into an empty net.
Fellow substitute Eleni Fakos closed the game off with her own goal to bring the score to nine before the referee called for a close.
Bulleen can be proud of their efforts with little fault in their structure for the game but it leaves plenty of room for improvement for a developing Caulfield side.
***
FC Bulleen Lions: 9 (Goad 19′ 21′ 24′ 54′, Coppock 31′, Sernio 44′, Tay 50′, Beagley 80′, Fakos 86′) defeated Caulfield Comets 0 at David Barro Stadium [HT: 5-0]
FC Bulleen Lions: 1. Cass Dimovski (GK), 2. Tessa Sernio, 3. Isabella Scott (12. Liana Iaconis 56′), 5. Maddie Stockdale, 6. Caitlin Friend, 8. Cindy Lay, 10. Emily Coppock (23. Eleni Fakos 56′), 14. Jess Tay (7. Ashleigh Beagley 72′), 9. Beattie Goad (19. Dani Gudelj 56′), 20. Alex Natoli, 22. Emily Dolzan
Unused Substitute(s): Ashleigh Bellman, Katherine Foster
Caulfield United Cobras: 32. Jaye Todd (GK), 4. Jamie Brown, 15. Pulli Gardiyawasam (17. Zoe Haractsis 62′), 34. Stephanie Wood, 23. Victoria Argyropoulos, 16. Irena Malliaras (6. Edita Mackaj 45′), 8. Anita Les, 33. Louise McMullen (12. Bree Gurr 77′), 3. Amy Kane (9. Alex Vassilopoulos 45′), 14. Dani Jackson, 12. Bree Gurr