An International Women’s Day gala at Broadmeadows Valley Park ushered in the new Sportsmart WPL season, an exiting occasion that saw plenty of goals and only two clean sheets. Newcomers Caulfield and South Yarra couldn’t open their top division accounts, while there were wins for South Melbourne, Bulleen, Heidelberg and Sandringham. Ashburton, Boroondara, Box Hill and Bundoora all had to settle for draws.
GK: Melissa Maizels (Ashburton United)
Maizels gets the nod in the season’s first Team of the Week after make a couple of big saves, including crucially running off her line in the last 5 minutes to deny Boroondara a winner. Her efforts were mostly to the detriment of Alisha Newman, who was denied certain goals by the ‘keeper on a couple of occasions.
RB: Natalie Martineau (South Melbourne WFC)
Natalie Martineau thrived in her first game in a new position. Taken from midfield and now deployed as an overlapping fullback, Martineau executed her role with aplomb, marauding forward and assisting Dudley-Smith for one goal, while also pulling off a crucial goal line clearance to prevent another.
CB: Emma Checker (Ashburton United)
The athletic centre-half looked a class above along side Christine Pfeiffer in an impressive looking defensive outlet. Her pace and raw desire for the ball saw her rarely lose out on a contest, and if she did, she’d win it back in double time. Loves to get forward and start attacks, and looks to be a great addition to the Ashy line-up this year.
CB: Sky Jensen (Boroondara Eagles)
The NTC graduate showed maturity beyond her years, marshalling Boroondara’s backline expertly to fend off the new-look Ashburton’s attacking threat. Then she went down the other end and scored the crucial equaliser with a looping header from a corner.
LB: Cristina Cardaci (Box Hill United)
In a game with an even spread of contributors from both sides, natural winger Cardaci earns her spot at left back this week after being shifted there, helping keep Bundoora’s potent wingers quiet for most of the contest with some strong tackles and good read of the game. Box Hill’s defensive structure mostly clicked on the day, with both Papadopoulos and Au’s impact stifled on the wings, and Curo’s supply minimised.
CM: Michelle Verzi (Heidelberg United)
A true captain’s knock, leading by example. Dictated the game shielding the back four. Her leadership and organisational skills were exemplary as the always vocal American pulled the strings for her side.
CM: Cindy Lay (Bulleen Lions)
With South Yarra intent on stifling Bulleen’s fluency through the middle, Lay toiled hard all day to find an avenue through Bulleen’s stubborn opponents, and was rewarded with a brace. The first goal, coming directly from a corner kick that curled past everybody – may have been a bit unconventional, but the second goal was through some nice build up play involving Goad and Fakos.
CM: Annabelle Gibney (Sandringham SC)
Playing just behind the front three, Gibney was involved in many of Sandringham’s attacking build-ups, constantly troubling Caulfield’s defenders. Sprung the Cobras’ offside trap twice for two neat finishes past the ‘keeper.
LF: Nicola Westwood (Sandringham SC)
This week’s player of the week, despite not even playing out the full 90. Scored a hat-trick, doing all the damage from the left wing. Combined well with the likes of Runnalls and Gibney in the front third,
CF: Brittany Dudley Smith (South Melbourne WFC)
Deployed in a unique dual 10 role, the striker thrived alongside Tiff Eliadis. Scored one after being denied by the woodwork earlier, and constantly troubled NTC’s defence throughout the contest.
RF: Julia Nicolaci (Heidelberg United)
Nicolaci was potent in the final third, always looked busy and dangerous with or without that ball. Was rewarded for a good performance with involvements in two of Heidelberg’s three goals, racking up a goal and assist.
Bench:
Caitlin Friend (Bulleen Lions)
Friend finds herself on the bench due to the abundance of midfield quality this week. In a new role for the Victory W-League player, she dictated play from the middle of the park, alongside Lay, with the duo having to work overtime to break through South Yarra’s defensive structure. Her control on the ball, vision and passing were all exemplary for the natural forward
Ellie Brush (Box Hill United)
The Canberra United utility finds herself unlucky to not feature in this week’s starting XI after working hard in midfield and scoring the all-important equaliser against Bundoora, nothing less than United deserved after perhaps looking the better side on balance over the 90 minutes.
Sienna Fogarty (Sandringham SC)
Fogarty bossed the midfield. She was often the one supplying Sandringham’s first avenue of attack, or helping break up Caulfield’s attacks before they reached Sandringham’s defence, makinge a number of interceptions in the middle. Capped her performance with a late goal.
Gulcan Koca (Bundoora United)
Gets a shout-out this week for her adaptability, used as a centre-back in Bundoora’s line-up. Did well to prevent Box Hill making the most of their ascendency with a number of strong tackles in the last line of defence. Was also comfortable carrying the ball up the pitch.
Georgia Cloepfil (Ashburton United)
Coach Sinisa Cohadzic hinted that Ashburton had a couple of surprises still in the works ahead of this WPL season, and the American import Cloepfil looked to be one of them. Not too much was known about her coming into the game, but she let her feet do the talking. Her willingness to take on her opponent and eye for a pass makes her a dangerous, albeit unknown, quality this season