The adage “when it rains, it pours” held true on Friday night, as Casey Comets recorded a drought breaking first win of the season with a 6-0 thrashing of South Yarra at Comets Stadium.
Mykaylin Rosenquist and Antonia Niteros scored doubles each, while Harriet Cordner and Raelynn Mikell also added goals to the Comets’ tally.
The signs were ominous early as Rosenquist hit a shot in anger from distance, which was held easily by Ashleigh Bellman.
For Yarra, Katherine Foster and Eliza Mealin got some touches between them, though a neat passage of passes didn’t materialise into a goal threat.
A couple more warning shots were fired when Mikell’s long ball over the top was turned just wide of the post by Niteros, while Katrina Avila won the ball from right-back for Sharnoah Hurley to have a pop at goal that flew over the bar.
With the ball almost played exclusively in the visitors’ half, Samantha Tighe and Megan Lorkin were doing their best to contain Hurley on the right wing, who earned a couple of corners for her team.
The pressure became too much by the 25th minute, when Laura Croft sent in a dangerous corner kick that was bundled over the line by Cordner.
It sparked a five minute frenzy that ended in three goals for hosts.
The second and third goals came via Antonia Niteros, who scored with a brilliant curling effort near the edge of the box, before sending in a cross minutes later that evaded Bellman and lodged itself in the back of the net.
A shellshocked South Yarra tried to get the ball forward in attempts to peg back the scoreline, with Marcela Marques almost getting on the end of a delivery in the box, while some confusion at the back between Alyse Brusamarello and her defence allowed Lauren Hughes a sight on goal, but her effort missed just wide.
However, the hosts got the ball up the other end and scored one more goal before half time, with Rosenquist running into the box and guiding the ball past the ‘keeper and into the net.
It was much the same after the break, with Casey looking dangerous from a number of corners and deliveries into the area.
South Yarra kept fighting, with Hughes and substitute Gretel Templeton applying pressure on the Comets’ backline, allowing Foster to get a shot away that Brusmarello held firmly.
The game entered a lull thereafter as the hosts seemed content with preserving their lead, while the visitors looked better in possession without threatening the goals.
It was a set piece that again proved South Yarra’s undoing, as Croft’s corner kick was tapped home in the 76th minute by Mikell through a sea of bodies.
With time running out on the game, a clearance by Bellman left her off her line, allowing Rosenquist to add the finishing touches when the ball landed back at her feet.
Casey Comets 6 (Cordner 25′, Niteros 26′ 30′, Rosenquist 40′ 89′, Mikell 73′) defeated South Yarra 0 at Comets Stadium
Casey Comets: 1. Alyse Brusamarello (GK), 16. Katrina Avila, 6. Raelynn Mikell, 4. Rachel Binning, 14. Anouk Meereboer (7. Sheridan Dudley 55’), 9. Mykaylin Rosenquist, 3. Laura Croft, 12. Harriet Cordner, 8. Shaunna Murray (10. Amy Radford 84′), 2. Antonia Niteros, 11. Sharnoah Hurley (5. Melissa Kirby 72′)
Unused Substitute(s): 15. Marina Markis
Yellow Card: Corner 36′
South Yarra SC: 1. Ashleigh Bellman (GK), 2. Hayley Walkinshaw, 4. Madeline Jona, 3. Samantha Tighe, 28. Megan Lorkin, 6. Priscilla Ribas, 8. Katherine Foster (13. Lucinda Turner 82′), 10. Marcela Marques, 7. Eliza Mealin, 11. Lauren Hughes, 9. Saraid Mitten (15. Gretel Templeton 46′)
Unused Substitutes: Sharon Walsh, 12. Claire Imray, 14. Maddison Wheatley-Harris