Image: Man in the Stands
Bulleen Lions have continued their 2017 recruitment drive with the additions of Alexandra Amore, Saphri Lines and re-commitments of Isabella Scott, Salma Tawfic, and Keely Lockhart for 2017.
Amore was a long-time Doncaster Rovers player and most recently in 2014 came third in the state league’s gold medal polling.
In 2015 she made the step up to Box Hill United, where she netted once in Victoria’s top flight.
She was at the Eltham Redbacks in 2016 and once more came third in the gold medal for SL1, netting double figures in goals.
Saphri Lines came to Victorian football’s attention in 2015 when signing for South Melbourne under Socrates Nicolaidis.
Previous to that, England-born Lines began her footballing career within the Bristol City Football Academy, then turning out for lower league sides Chippenham Town, Frome Town Ladies and Larkhall Athletic, often receiving club honors and goalscoring plaudits at those clubs.
Lines tried her luck in the college system in America at the age of 20, moving to California for a season, before making the move to Australia. That season at South Melbourne she played a part in the club’s WPL championship-winning season.
In 2016 with the formation of the NPLW she and South Melbourne teammate Tiffany Eliadis became Stuart Munro’s headline signings for new consortium Southern United. Lines was the club’s standout throughout the 2016 campaign, finishing as top scorer and best and fairest winner.
She now joins a Bulleen Lions outfit that recently signed Southern teammate Brittany Dudley-Smith.
The club also confirmed the commitments of Isabella Scott, Salma Tawfic, and Keely Lockhart.
Fullback Scott has previously been a Bulleen Lions and returns for the 2017 NPLW season, as does fellow defender Tawfic, while Keely Lockhart has been promoted from the youths after breaking through in 2016, netting in the club’s Team App Cup semi-final against Boroondara Eagles.