After a stirring second half performance against the NTC Girls from his Casey Comets side – lead by a rampant Brittany Dudley-Smith – coach Ian Williamson has stressed his side are still a work in progress.
With patches of inconsistency putting a dampener on their early season form, Casey have shown a marked improvement in the second half of the campaign, with the coach putting it down to the confidence levels within the playing group.
“It’s a difficult thing to say, it’s a confidence thing with us,” Williamson said.
“We’ve had a good six-eight weeks now and we’re getting to where we want to be but it’s got to be a bit more consistent.
“We’re competitive for 90 minutes but our use of the ball has got to become a lot better. We get plenty of it but we do nothing with it. Some days it’s fantastic, other days it’s woeful.
“Last week against Heidelberg, it was woeful but [against the FFV U/17’s] we’ve come out and played as a fitter, faster more effervescent unit and we got to the level we needed to get to.
“It’s one of those things where you’ve got to keep pushing these girls.”
Mirroring their improvement in the game against the FFV Under 17’s, Williamson has pointed to the late season progression as a sign of what’s possible for the club, insisting that if he can keep the same group together, the sky’s the limit.
“As I’ve said for most of the season, we’re a work in progress. There are a lot of girls that haven’t played for us before, there’s probably eight or nine girls new to the club,” the head coach said.
“They’re starting to understand what I want, what they can do and what they can achieve. So as a coach and a team, we’re growing together and I think that if we can keep this bunch of girls together, and maybe add one or two more, we’ve got some good things happening.”
Two players he’ll be hoping to hold onto are trequarista Jade Barnden and the aforementioned centre forward Dudley-Smith, who netted a brace in the 2-1 result on Friday night.
The Casey boss admitted an aim for his team throughout the week was to utilize the pair, with Williamson ultimately left satisfied with their performances.
“We focused on playing through our number nine and our number 10, which of course was Jade Barnden and Brittany Dudley-Smith.
“I thought Brittany [Dudley-Smith] came into the game in the second half, unlucky not to ping one in the first half and I thought her movement was much better this week than last.
“Jade Barnden’s speed in closing down and distribution for a number 10 was fairly good and I think she’s growing into that role.”