Lay, Gudelj put six past Box Hill

by Cameron Osterlund 0

Box Hill United have suffered a 6-2 defeat at home after an inspired second half for the visitors yielded five goals and two hat-trick scorers.

FC Bulleen came out of the blocks with intent, managing an early chance through the middle of the park.

Box Hill shot stopper, Maddie Webster did well to parry the initial shot before collecting the ball in a busy technical area.

Ten minutes into the match, Cristina Cardaci put herself in harms way to stop another threatening attack by the visitors.

Head high contact was made in the collision and Cardaci was fortunate not to have been stretchered off, instead a free-kick was awarded to Bulleen right on the edge of the box and Cristina played the rest of the game with a suspected broken nose.

The left-back was moved positions a few times during the rest of the match, and miraculously played out most of the 90 minutes.

It took 25 minutes for the deadlock to be broken, Goad with the run down the right side drew Webster out of goal and slotted the ball into the path of the arriving Cindy Lay, who converted with ease from in front of goal.

Box Hill sought a quick reply through Camilleri, who fancied her chances from range, forcing a save and corner from the goalkeeper.

She then took it upon herself to also convert the corner with a strong header just to the left of Dimovski who could do nothing to stop the goal.

With the score now levelled at one a piece, the home side found time on the ball.

Camilleri won the ball in the midfield and quickly flicked it up the left side to Vatcky, who charged at the Bulleen goalkeeper.

Vatcky then chipped the ball over the last defender, just brushing a shoulder on the way through, straight to Camilleri’s feet – the forward wasted no time firing away quickly but the resulting shot flew wide.

Not a second later she was collected in a late challenge and awarded a free-kick roughly 22 yards in front of goal.

Koutrouvelis stepped up, struck the ball, and it was in the net.

A blistering strike giving the home side the lead with a touch under 15 minutes to play in the first half.

And 2-1 it remained as the teams entered the changerooms after a competitive first half.

The return of play saw an energised Bulleen side putting Box Hill under the pump from the whistle.

It took just four minutes to level the game at 2-2.

Dani Gudelj started the attack, and Webster was working frantically to ensure the defence cleared the danger, but after a few solid build up passes and a missed clearance, the ball fell back to wingers feet and she curled in a wonderful ball from right to left into the top corner of the net.

The Lions continued to take the game to Box Hill, and on the hour mark their hard work paid-off.

A 50-50 ball was won by Gudelj and after a touch she was in space, settling on the ball and waiting for the right moment to slide it across the face of goal to Lay, who arrived with the defence snapping at her feet and slid in to knock in her second of the night.

Minutes later they broke again, this time down the right side as Lay had but a sniff at goal which she took without hesitation, finding the right angle to sneak her hat-trick goal into the left corner of the net.

By the 65th minute Gudelj had scored twice, striking Bulleen’s fifth goal and third in just five minutes.

With the result all but ensured it was Gudelj with the final nail in Box Hill’s coffin, scoring her hat-trick in the 73rd minute to secure the three points and give Bulleen their second goalfest and victory in five days.

An unsettled Box Hill United defence in the second half opened the door for a dominant goalscoring display from the Lions, and the result puts them well in the mix for a finals berth, while the gap continues to grow for Box Hill.

Box Hill United 2 (Camilleri 26’ & Koutrouvelis 32’) were defeated by FC Bulleen Lions 6 (Lay 25’, 63’, 72’ & Gudelj 50’, 60, 65’) at Wembley Park on Friday night.

Box Hill United: 1. Maddie WEBSTER (GK), 23. Alexandra AMORE, 32. Penny BAKOPOULOS, 8. Mellani CAMILLERI, 21. Cristina CARDACI, 7. Emily HULBERT, 14. Georgia KOUTROUVELIS, 4. Madelaine RICHARDSON, 5. Sarah WALSH, 2. Renee ZAIRIS, 9. Elaina VATCKY

SUBS: 15. Hayley GEURTS, 19. Selena KARLSON, 3. Elise KYRGIOS, 18. Annie REMMAN, 12. Angie RASSIAS

FC Bulleen Lions: 1. Cass DIMOVSKI (GK), 3. Isabella SCOTT, 5. Maddie STOCKDALE, 22. Emily DOLZAN, 12. Liana IACONIS, 2. Sernio TESSA, 6. Caitlin FRIEND, 17. Charlee WEST, 16. Beattie GOAD, 8. Cindy LAY, 19. Dani GUDELJ

SUBS: 7. Ashleigh BEAGLEY, 10. Emily COPPOCK, 11. Tayla MURE, 20. Alex NATOLI, 43. Tori SNELLEKSZ