Football is a team game, but perhaps it’s no coincidence that Calder United’s three-game winning streak to start the 2016 NPLW campaign has been accompanied by Rachel Alonso’s early form.
She sits alongside Box Hill’s Melanie Camilleri as one of only two players to have scored in each of their team’s games this season, the difference being each contest has yielded three points for Calder.
The latest came in the 4-1 come-from-behind home win over Galaxy United, helping Alonso sit at equal top of the golden boot race with four goals.
“It’s always good to get on the scoresheet, but it was more about trying to get involved in the game early because they were starting to push us a little bit more,” Alonso said.
That contest may have seen Alonso’s performance overshadowed by teammate Enza Barilla, who scored a hat-trick, but it’s been the duo’s central partnership in the front third that has left opposition defences struggling to stem the flow of Calder goals this season.
“That’s probably my most comfortable position,” Alonso said.
“I’ve played various positions over the last couple of years for Bundoora and I’m finding it a bit better this season.
“I’m linking up with Enz, which is really good, and we’ve got the pace on the wings, so I’m honestly so happy at where I am playing at the moment.”
While the early days of Calder’s existence in the NPLW saw the somewhat expected mass migration of Bundoora personnel, including coach Mark Torcaso and a majority of the starting XI, the overall lineup is looking more balanced than in recent seasons with some key addition, according to both Torcaso and Alonso.
The emergence of Keilor product Marie Rampal, who has scored twice already, along with the performances of another Rachel in former Casey Comets defender Binning – who links up with former Comets coach Ian Williamson in the Calder coaching set-up – has helped propel Calder up the ladder to be within reaching distance of Bulleen Lions, who with a game’s advantage sit on four consecutive wins.
“She’s [Binning] come into a team where we like to play and she’s quite good with her feet, so she’s playing more of a possession game,” Alonso said.
“Now she’s complimenting ‘G’ [Gulcan Koca] and G is complimenting her, so I think the players that we’ve brought in and the players coming from Bundoora is just a very solid team at the moment.”
Calder’s somewhat secretive pre-season, including a trip to Tasmania that saw the squad gain match fitness away from the prying eyes of their Victorian counterparts, has allowed the side to unleash its training ground moves on their opposition.
Alonso credits the tight-knit pre-season – despite the late arrival of some of the W-League players – as a big factor in the side’s early prominence.
“Everyone didn’t know much about us going into pre-season, that worked with us because we built up a really good morale in the team,” she said.
“We’ve got a really good balance of experience and young girls that are coming up.
“Going into the first game and having a win against Alamein really set us up, and the confidence is really high at the moment.”
Following WPL goal tallies of nine in 2014 and 11 in 2015, the forward is well on her way to eclipsing those tallies in 2016.
Having previously been involved in Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United squads in the W-League, there’s no reason why her form, if sustained, wouldn’t warrant another crack at the top in Australia once more.
However, the 21-year-old is refusing to look that far ahead so early in the campaign, preferring to instead focus on the job at hand, with the club’s next league fixture being a trip to Bayside after the Easter break.
“I’m just taking everything it as it comes at the moment,” Alonso said.
“I don’t know what my plans are at the end of the year, I just want to enjoy my football for once and try and get something out of it.”
Image: Adosinda Au