It’s been a strong start to the season for Alex Natoli’s Bulleen Lions side, with their win over Alamein FC marking their fourth consecutive win.
Their triumph last Monday however, was the biggest challenge the side had faced this season so far.
“We haven’t had a match up like that yet so it was good to have a kick around and get a good result,” Natoli said.
“It was a good challenge and was good to have a hit out.”
She says that while the Lions are keen to extend their run of form, the side aren’t pushing themselves quite as hard, with the season being a long one.
“At the moment, we’re taking it a bit easier. Our workload was really reduced over the last month to give us all a bit of a break,” she conceded.
“We’re still trying to get our fitness and our touch back to make sure we’re on the ball for the rest of the season.”
Natoli reserved some high praise for her coach, Ricardo Martinez, whom she says much of the credit for the side’s form must go towards.
“He’s been an amazing coach, I can’t complain,” she stated.
“Really high intensity training, and you can see that on the pitch.”
“We’re all working really well together and the girls are really pushing for all the wins.”
Any football fan knows that the key to a successful team, talent aside, is strong team chemistry.
The defender admits that at the moment, the mood in and around the dressing room is sky high but despite this, there is still a great deal of competition within the squad.
“We’re all good mates and we all get along so that helps but there is definitely competition going around,” she said.
“All five players on the bench are awesome key players that can come on and do their job as well as [those starting].
In light of this, the versatile Natoli – who was utilized as both a centre half and right back against Alamein – is still hopeful that she will be able to play a key part for her side, and is happy to play wherever needed.
“I hope so, I always want to play as much as possible. If I have to move around, I’m happy.” She stated.
The versatile defender has, however, conceded that there are things she needs to work on to get to the level of performance she desires.
“I think the big thing for me is fitness. I want to run out the 90 minutes solidly,” she revealed.
“I really want to have that extra amount so that if your team is down, you can get up. If you’re holding onto the win, you want to make sure that you’re 100%.”
“I’d also like to work on my attacking and one-on-one defending, and hopefully we can fix that up.”
With plenty of improvement still to come, and a strong start to the season behind them, it would appear that the other clubs should remain wary of the girls from the Veneto Club.