Coach: Deborah Nichols
2014 Finish: 6th After the success that was achieved the season prior, having won both the Women’s State Knockout Cup and the Women’s Premier League, it was always going to be a tough task for the small team with a passion for youth development to back that up. Alas, their season was one that lacked consistency all the way through.
They raced away to a flying start, going unbeaten in the first six rounds, but it started to unravel from there. Four losses from five games, with a grand total -11 goal difference to boot, saw Sandy slip a game out of finals contention.
Recent inductee into the WPL hall of fame Deb Nichols took over mid-season and lead a resurgence of sorts. Their run of five wins and three draws in their last eight games wasn’t enough to secure finals football.
They made a decent run of the WSKC as well, knocking of three lower league opponents and one WPL outfit on their way to a Semi-finals bow out to South Melbourne.
New Signings: There hasn’t been too much movement at Kingston Heath in terms of players in, but there have been a number of key movements out of the club. Versatile defender Kristen Stensholdt has departed to make a return to a resurgent Ashburton side, while winger Elaina Vatcky also returns to her former club in Box Hill.
It’ll be a hard task to see how they’ll cover their losses in defence, with news that centre-half Christine Parton has retired from the game.
Players to watch: Sandringham has been heralded in the past for their ability to bring through young stars, especially in the full-back role. In the past few seasons, we’ve seen Steph Catley become a star, last season’s breakout Emma Robers looks to be heading that way, and Emily Morris-Krause is the latest in the line of players to watch from left-back. The reserves youngster made a number of appearances late into last season, putting in a number of quality performances. She looks set to play a bigger role, potentially freeing Robers to play a midfield role.
On top of those two, Emma Runnalls is one of the deadliest strikers in the league, and with the industry of Annabelle Gibney and Sienna Fogarty in the engine room, there’s plenty of upside about this Sandy line-up, especially with Hannah Stuart set to return mid-season.
What to expect in 2015: It’s hard to place Sandringham this season amongst the diversive playing group that represents the WPL. While they represent the short stack in terms of power in the transfer market, they continue to bring youth through with the regularity of a Southampton, West Ham or Crewe. If they can use their youngsters to successfully replace those that’ve left the club, then finals looks a realistic aim for the club. Relegation won’t be an issue but they may potentially lack the squad depth to go the full length this time round, especially if injuries once again hit. Similar prospect to 2014