Bulleen Lions found their shooting boots to power past Casey Comets 4-1 in their Women’s Premier League fixture at David Barro Stadium on Sunday evening.
The dominant win lifted Bulleen to 13 points, back within two of fifth-placed Sandringham (15) while Casey Comets (one) remain two adrift at the foot of the ladder.
The Lions kicked off in ninth on the table but clinically exposed the gap between themselves and the bottom-placed team.
There was still an air of controversy for Bulleen’s opener, scored by Daniela Gudelj in the 14th minute.
Caitlin Friend had been ordered to the sidelines to remove a piece of jewellery, only to pop up and win a free kick wide on the right. Friend was given a yellow card for coming back on without the referee’s permission.
That minor infringement aside, the goal exposed Casey’s marking as both Gudelj and Maddie Stockdale arrived without an opponent on the end of Beattie Goad’s free kick. Stockdale deflected the ball into Gudelj’s path for an easy finish from close range.
Gudelj then turned provider for Bulleen’s second in the 27th minute as she ran onto a Friend through ball down the right. A pin-point cross picked out Cindy Lay for a tap-in from all of a metre out.
Friend then scored a goal of her own in the 30th minute as her first-time shot from the right side of the area capped off a darting run in the build-up from Goad.
Casey goalkeeper Alyse Brusamarello made a string of saves to stop the score blowing out, denying Lay, Friend, Gudelj and Alex Natoli attempts between the 40th and 65th minute.
Casey’s Shaunna Murray was the lone hope for a goal on the counter for Casey and was agonisingly close to scoring in the 68th minute.
After doing the hard work to shrug the Bulleen defence and beat the oncoming Cass Dimvoski, Murray’s goal-bound shot was cleared off the line by a back-tracking Emily Dolzan.
Bulleen responded to the scare by scoring a fourth, with Gudelj crossing from deep on the right to Lay who placed a volley perfectly into the top corner.
Murray would not be denied a goal for Casey though as she ran onto Laura Croft’s bouncing free kick in the 86th minute to volley in a Comets consolation.
“Our finishing had been letting us down in the past few weeks so it was good to get back on the board and finish off a game,” Bulleen’s Cindy Lay said.
“We were solid at the back, didn’t let them get through and kept the ball up front with nice combination play.”
Bulleen enjoyed some success from short corners, with Beattie Goad creating havoc at times by dribbling into the penalty area along the byline.
“We’ve been working on our set pieces lately,” Lay said.
“We’ve had some [set moves] since the start of the year but hadn’t really used them. It was nice to see it work.
“It was a disappointing start to the season but this is the stage where we turn it around and stop dropping points.”
FC Bulleen Lions 4 (Gudelj 14′, Lay 27′ 70′ Friend 30′) defeated Casey Comets 1 (Murray 86′) at Veneto Club [HT: 3-0]
FC Bulleen Lions: 1. DIMOVSKI Cassandra, 2. SERNIO Tessa (4. SEPE Giulia 80”), 3. SCOTT Isabella, 5. STOCKDALE Maddie, 6. FRIEND Caitlin, 8. LAY Cindy (10. COPPOCK Emily 80”), 16. GOAD Beattie (11. MURE Tayla 80”), 17. WEST Charlee, 20. NATOLI Alex, 22. DOLZAN Emily
Unused substitutes: 7. BEAGLEY Ashleigh, 43. SNELLEKSZ Tori
Yellow Cards: Friend 14”
Casey Comets: 1. BRUSAMARELLO Elyse, 2. BINNING Rachel, 3. CROFT Laura, 5. KIRBY Melissa, 7. DUDLEY Sheridan (15. FAZLIC Armani 46”), 8. MURRAY Shaunna, 10. RADFORD Amy, 11. HURLEY Sharnoah, 12. CORDNER Harriet, 14. MEEREBOER Anouk (31. MARKIS Marina 46”), 16. AVILA Katrina
Unused substitutes: None