It was a low scoring weekend, as only 23 goals were recorded around the Women’s Premier League. Round 7 started quite promisingly with Box Hill’s 7-1 win over Preston, but a slew of 2-0 results on Sunday lowered the average before a 2-3 thriller in Bulleen.
Of those 2-0 scores, South Melbourne laboured to a win over Casey Comets (a tiny margin by South Melbourne standards considering their average of seven goals per game in the previous six league matches), Ashburton touched down thanks to two goals from their indefatigable captain while Bundoora beat EAP despite playing a goalkeeper at centre forward.
Here we give you the best performers from the weekend that was.
Goalkeepers
Ashburton were not finding it as easy as they’d expected at Kim Reserve on Saturday. Despite their lowly league placing, Altona were giving a good account of themselves in the first half. Despite all their chances though, they were finding it a little difficult to crack Ashburton’s stand-in goalkeeper Madeline Hince. Given a chance in the first team with Ingrid Philippe away, Hince gave the Ashburton selectors some food for thought as she kept the Altona attackers at bay. Then all of a sudden, Aliesha Newman was tripped in the box and up stepped Georgia Smith to finally break Ashburton’s resolve… but it was not to be as Hince stood her ground and made the save. All in all, a good day for the goalkeeper as she kept a clean sheet while captain Christine Pfeiffer settled matters at the other end of the pitch.
Things were equally tight at Comets Stadium, as Cassandra Dimovski and Kelly Soles both put in good performances for South Melbourne and Casey Comets respectively. The two teams have scored a combined total of 70 goals after six rounds and this might have been a high scoring affair but the for the fact that both goalkeepers were handling most of what was being thrown at them. Dimovski made fine saves off the likes of Brittany Dudley-Smith, while Soles had the fearsome figure of Golden Boot Laura Spiranovic to deal with. The end result? Yepp you guessed it, a narrow 2-0 win to South Melbourne.
Verdict – Hince
Defenders
A hattrick is often something to be celebrated, because of the degree of difficulty it requires. It’s a bit less rare at this level, but it still requires a striker who is in deadly form or a midfielder who’s making good runs on a particular day. But quite not so common is a full back who blasts home three unassisted goals from the left wing. There’s no denying Stephanie Catley‘s talent as an attacking wing back with bags of flair, but her third goal on Saturday was an absolute masterpiece. The Australian international stole the ball off a stuttering Heidelberg player, dashing down the touchline before arrowing in a cross-shot that spun and dipped over the goalkeeper’s head and into the far corner. There’s absolutely no defending against a top class goal like that.
Starting on the opposite flank from Catley was 14-year-old Stephanie Parton. Younger sister to Sandringham captain Christie, Parton was called into action due to the unavailability of senior players Lucy Kapusta and Emma Gunn and put in a fine shift on the right flank. Only a fool would have put money on the youngster to keep out a marauding Belinda Pannella but football often makes fools of all of us as the Heidelberg captain failed to find much in the way of chances with Parton clinging doggedly to her over 90 minutes.
We’ve already mentioned how Casey and South Melbourne were cancelling each other out, and as well as the goalkeepers did, both sets of defenders deserve credit too. Casey’s Laura Croft kept namesake Laura Spiranovic honest for most of the game, making South Melbourne’s co-captain earn every shot she took. Despite her well-documented lack of speed, the Casey captain made up for it with her superb reading of play, getting into good positions all day long to break up opposition attacks. A typically gutsy performance from Croft.
South Melbourne’s central defensive pairing of Alex Cheal and Sarah Sumner weren’t having it easy either, as they had to deal with numerous Casey attacks on the day. The duo coped with everything that was thrown at them however, keeping the usually prolific duo of Brittany Dudley-Smith and Alex Gummer quiet while ensuring that the Comets wingers couldn’t cut in and take easy pot shots at Cassie Dimovski. Cheal in particular was excellent, timing her tackles well and mopping up wherever she could.
If you’d gone to Wembley Park on Friday night, you would have been treated to the unusual sight of tiny Preston defender Jade Gatto man-marking the 6ft tall Ellvana Curo. Despite being a few heads shorter than the Box Hill striker she was supposed to mark, Gatto took to her task with relish, setting out to make life as difficult as possible for her opponent. It wasn’t an easy task by any account as Preston eventually shipped seven goals, but Curo’s contribution was limited to a back heel finish from close range. The striker’s night was a frustrating one, with the referee refusing to award any more fouls after one tumble too many, while she almost got into a bout of fisticuffs shortly after halftime. Gatto, for all her troubles, copped a flailing elbow to the nose late on, but bravely soldiered on till full time.
Verdict – Catley, Parton, Cheal, Croft, Gatto
Midfielders
There was an unlikely standout in Box Hill’s midfield on the night, and it came in the form of Padiki Dade. The Box Hill midfielder is highly rated at Wembley Park, though she can often frustrate spectators with some anonymous performances. Maybe it’s the turn of speed that she seems capable of, but is seldom displayed when placed on the wing. But whatever the case, a switch to central midfield against Preston seems to have done the trick. Dade was a constant presence for most of the first half, winning the ball and distributing it to onrushing team mates. Her contribution to the opener was telling too, as she surged into the box and picked up a Seyma Erenli cut back before finally beating Alex Bogdanovski via the goal post.
Over at Kim Reserve, Ashburton would have been hailing their captain Christine Pfeiffer after her two goal haul gained another valuable three points for the team. The visitors had been unable to make much headway in the first half, but Pfeiffer’s double soon saw to that as she blasted home a penalty in the 55th minute, before embarking on a slaloming run through the final third and slotting low past Christine Fonua from about 8 yards.
There were also some spectacular goals around Victoria from midfielders, as Casey Naumovski scored a blinder for Preston to stun the Box Hill faithful, running on to a Liz Eyar cross-field ball and curling it into the top corner to level the scores. Or there was that peach of a free kick from Heidelberg’s Julia Nicolaci as she curled it over the Sandringham wall and into goal, her effort so hard that Sian Rogers could not keep it out despite getting a firm hand to it. Jessica Humble too scored a similar late effort from 25 yards, the defensive midfielder’s free kick beating Al Bogdanovski’s leap for Box Hill’s sixth goal.
Verdict – Pfeiffer, Dade
Forwards
Our forward options came mainly from two games on the weekend, first of which was Bundoora’s encounter with EAP. While the unusual experiment of playing goalkeeper Diarna Cartwright as a striker is unlikely to be repeated again, Sarah Richardson once again filled in admirably for Bundoora. The forward had a hand in both Bundoora goals, hitting the post in the 32nd minute to allow Olivia Edwards to rifle home, before showing a clear head to score a second and nine minutes later. On the other end of the pitch, Beattie Goad was doing her best to haul her team back after returning from U17 duty, but try as she might there was no getting past an imperious Bri Davey in goal. The highlight was a jinking run down the left wing past several Bundoora defenders and necessitating a magnificent save from Davey following a smashing finish.
Meanwhile, there were plenty of goals at the Veneto Club as the match swung first one way then the other. Ashleigh Beagley started the match despite a foot injury, and almost immediately justified her coach’s gamble when she scored what was probably the fastest goal we’ve had so far this season. With only 45 seconds on the clock, Beagley raced on to a through ball, drawing Candice Sallama out of goal before wrong footing the Cairnlea goalkeeper with a deft right foot flick into the opposite corner of the net. The Bulleen forward almost did it again ten minutes later, but Gabrielle Fox was there this time with a goal line clearance that saved Sallama’s blushes. Brittany Thomas was also in sparkling form on the other wing, blasting past defenders at will and leaving them in her wake in a frenetic opening period. Her hard work paid off after half an hour, as some fancy footwork and a fine left footed shot put Bulleen back into the lead.
Cairnlea were not going to go down without a fight though, as Jasmine Rachwalski had the final say with 11 minutes to go, slamming home a goal with gusto to cap off what had been a storming performance on the left wing. The assist came from none other than her captain, the impressive Tijen Hussein who played like a woman possessed for most of the night. While several of the players on the ground were starting to cramp up, a flying Hussein took advantage, latching on to a ball over the top and scoring past Megan Thompson for the equaliser before setting up Rachwalski four minutes after. Cairnlea have had many ups and downs lately, but if veterans like Hussein and Sallama can put in consistent performances like this, they might well go far this season.
Verdict – Hussein, Thomas, Richardson
Team of the Week XI: Hince (Ashburton); Catley (Sandringham), S.Parton (Sandringham), Cheal (South Melbourne), Croft (Casey), Gatto (Preston); Pfeiffer (Ashburton), Dade (Box Hill); Thomas (Bulleen), Richardson (Bundoora), Hussein (Cairnlea)
Substitutes: Soles (Casey), Sumner (South Melbourne), Goad (EAP), Rachwalski (Cairnlea), Beagley (Bulleen)
Many thanks to all those who contributed to this week’s edition of the Team of the Week, including reporters Brad Davies, Xavier Player, Daniel Baricevic, Peter Williams and Anna Harrington, as well as numerous match and club officials and players.