Photo: Adrian Shaw
While we were a game short in the NPLW Victoria this weekend, the three games that did play out weren’t short of action as we saw 12 goals shared, a pair of two goal comebacks and a hat-trick to an American returning from injury.
The round began with the fixture between Heidelberg United and Calder United postponed, with the official line being the pitch was too waterlogged to play on.
This meant that all the games for the round were played out on a Super Sunday of NPLW action.
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A shock result was nearly orchestrated by Southern United, but the bottom-placed side blew an early 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with a Bulleen Lions outfit that could’ve gone top of the ladder with a win.
It was almost the perfect sending off for Dallas Brooks Park, with Southern playing the last of their four allotted fixtures at Mornington Soccer Club’s home ground.
Within the time it took to say the names Candela Ferreyra Bas and Brittany Dudley-Smith, Southern had raced off to a 2-0 lead, courtesy of goals from that pair within the opening 14 minutes.
Usual suspect Emily Coppock was amongst the goals again, as she netted her sixth goal of the season just before half-time, to breath life into Ricardo Martinez’s shell-shocked outfit.
They got their response just four minutes after the restart through captain Tessa Sernio, with neither side able to break the deadlock from there on out in a thrilling contest.
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The upturned fortunes of Box Hill United weren’t enough for Bobby McGuinness’ side to get past Alamein FC, who triumphed 3-2 at HA Smith Reserve.
Recent form and ladder position painted two very different pictures heading into this Sunday afternoon fixture, with the sixth-placed Box Hill fashioning wins against Southern United and Bulleen Lions in their last two fixtures without conceding a goal, while Alamein had slid to fourth after a return of just one point from games against the Senior NTC and Calder United.
With the adage ‘form is temporary’ firmly in the minds of the Alamein train, American Hannah Keane showed all of her class to put the hosts into a 1-0 lead, after leading the Box Hill defence on a merry chase.
She doubled the dose soon after with her second, collecting a loose pass from goalkeeper Emily Shields before placing a lobbed effort back over her for 2-0.
Fede Frew made her return to Victorian football with an appearance off the bench at half-time, while for Box Hill, centre-half Jade Feakes was surprisingly brought on to provide a big outlet up front.
That decision proved a masterstroke, as she pulled one back to half the deficit, just moments after Alamein substitute Kelsey Hodges nearly tracked the ball into her own net.
Chances continued to flow for United, first through Jaimee Williams who struck the side netting, and also Maddie Richardson who came close to grabbing a goal from halfway.
A penalty to Alamein allowed Keane to complete her third hat-trick of the season, to provide temporary respite for the hosts, only for Emily Hulbert to close the gap once more to 3-2, which is how the scores remained.
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In Sunday’s night fixture, Galaxy United made the long trip to the state’s South East, turning a 1-0 deficit to Bayside United into a 2-1 victory.
Goalkeeper Katie Neville would’ve liked her time again for Bayside’s opening goal, which came courtesy of a Bronte James effort hit straight at the Galaxy custodian, who let the ball slip through to goals.
Galaxy’s equaliser came in the second half also via a goalkeeper error from Erin Hudson, who misjudged Jess Tay’s looping effort to parry into her own net.
It shouldn’t take too much away from her performance who was central to keeping out the likes of Annabel Martin and Adriana Taranto in the first half with great saves.
With the game nearing towards a 1-1 draw, a late corner saw youngster Caitlin Pickett volley in at the near post from a corner kick to win the game at the death.