Heidelberg United is clinging to the fringes of finals places after a desperate 2-1 win against FC Bulleen Lions in their WPL fixture on Monday night.
Julia Nicolaci’s penalty on the hour mark won the match at David Barro Stadium to push Heidelberg (12 points, two behind fifth-placed Ashburton) into sixth at Bulleen’s expense (seventh, 8 points).
Bulleen was left to lament missed chances through the night and will now sweat on the severity of a knee injury suffered by Eleni Fakos in the first half.
The re-match of last season’s preliminary final arrived with both teams in need of a win to kick-start a move up the table and it was Bulleen who started stronger in spite of losing Fakos in the passage that led to the opening goal for Emily Dolzan in the 11th minute.
Fakos collapsed in a challenge on the right touchline in the build-up to Bulleen winning a free kick on the right edge of the penalty area.
Even with the disadvantage of taking the set piece 10 versus 11, Dolzan was unmarked in the middle of the box to steer in Caitlin Friend’s low drive from the free-kick.
Heidelberg levelled the game in the 23rd minute with a set piece of its own and persistence under pressure from Adelyn Ayton.
Julia Nicolaci took the free kick from wide on the left, then swept onto the ball for a second cross into the box after the initial delivery was cleared.
Ayton received the pass and scuffed her first attempt to shoot, but was first to find her feet as Bulleen defenders converged, making good contact to shoot in at the second time of asking.
The best chance for Bulleen to re-take the lead came in the 49th minute as Cindy Lay ran onto a long ball from Emily Dolzan that every Heidelberg defender misjudged and ran underneath.
Presented with a one-on-one and time to steady for the shot, Lay missed wide to the right.
Heidelberg re-took the lead on the hour mark when Aneta Komijat caught Dolzan in possession and was clipped by the back-tracking Bulleen defender to win a penalty.
Nicolaci went low to the centre-right, powering the penalty below the dive of Dimovski.
Right back Demi Mihaloudis and centre back Laura Phillips then went to work preserving the lead for Heidelberg, both making well-timed challenges and marking tightly to leave goalkeeper Kelsey Quinn largely unflustered between the posts.
Bulleen kept a high tempo and dominated possession in the last 10 minutes but ultimately failed to create any better chances than those that had presented prior to Heidelberg taking the lead.
“We did play really well but we’re getting caught out not taking chances,” Dolzan said.
“For some of the girls it’s one of the better games we’ve played but it’s not working out for us”.
Heidelberg coach Bill Mihaloudis was pleased that his team had integrated first-gamer, former New Zealand youth international Elise Mamanu-Gray and second-gamer, American Christy Zwolski.
“We’re adjusting the best XI, it was always part of the plan and it was a matter of getting players in at the right time to settle everything down,” Mihaloudis said.
“Christy (Zwolski) has trained two weeks with us and Elise (Mamanu-Gray) a week now. This was her first hit-out and she’s just going to get better.”
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FC Bulleen Lions 1 (Dolzan 11′) defeated by Heidelberg United 2 (Ayton 23′, Nicolaci [p] 60′) at Veneto Club [HT: 1-1]