Calder complete productive Tasmanian hit-out
New NPLW entity Calder United took their pre-season show on the road with a weekend away in Tasmania to face a Tasmanian NDC select side coached by Mike Edwards.
Calder’s Mark Torcaso and assistant Ian Williamson had a full complement of players to test out across two fixtures against opponents made up of the the NDC development side as well as some of the standout Tasmanian State League players.
The weekend proved to be productive for Calder, scoring 11 goals combined without conceding at all, winning 5-0 and 6-0 in games that were competitive despite the scorelines.
In the first fixture, Jess Au opened the weekend’s scoring after chances fell to both sides.
Jess Pitts headed home the next goal, with a young Tasmanian select unable to sustain the end-to-end action thereafter, succumbing to visitors’ pressure.
Pitts, Au, Rachael Alonso and Claudia Fruscalzo were solid for Calder.
The second game, in muggy conditions, saw Calder again gain the ascendancy.
Stacey Papadopoulos opened the scoring from a rebounded save in the 14th minute, before the floodgates opened.
The first half ended 5-0 to the hosts, with one more strike added after the break, Pitts grabbing a double in the contest.
“The game’s were more about getting the girls’ fitness levels up, more so than the result of the performance – two games in two days,” Torcaso said.
“Now over the next few weeks, it’ll come down to how we want to play and need to play. That’s slowly coming together which is good, but our main focus right now is getting the girls at a really good fitness level which is going to last them 24 games during the season.
“Without having done so much structural or tactical stuff, the girls are really working well together at the moment, considering we haven’t worked on that stuff.
“[Tasmania] played well, they caused us problems but I think it was one of those weekends where we just took our chances. It caused me a lot of headaches as some of the girls who were younger and new to this environment were the ones that really stepped up and played well.
“The depth in the squad is looking really strong.”
With thanks to Maree Edwards for information and images.
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Bayside complete successful 90 minute debut
Bayside got off to the best possible start to life as an NPLW club, notching up two wins on the road having travelled to Albury/Wodonga.
While the trip served as more of a team bonding experience for the side, it also provided the club an opportunity to work on their cohesiveness as a unit as they played together officially for the first time as a club.
In the first game against the Wodonga Allstars, 17-year-old Bronte James starred with a hat-trick in a competitive hit-out between the two sides.
Kirstie Shearing talks pre-season at Bayside FCBayside United Football Club – WNPL traveled north on the weekend to take on a combined team from the Albury Wondonga Football Association in their first pre-season friendly for 2016. Recent signing Kirstie Shearing spoke to TCF after the match, sharing her thoughts on the new NPLW Victoria and aspirations for the season ahead.#PS4NPLWVIC
Posted by The Corner Flag on Sunday, 24 January 2016
The second game saw Bayside take on the Wodonga representatives’ youth side with both Elisabeth Robers and Angela Durston-Ryan netting goals in consecutive games.
Emma Robers, Marianna Anthony and Kirstie Shearing were some of the stronger performers to come out of that second game.
In other squad news, Ingrid Phillipe donned the gloves for Bayside, Nikki Cook played outfield, while former Heidelberg United and Bulleen Lions’ Phoebe Parker was also spotted in the team photo featured on the Bayside Facebook page.
It wasn’t all good news for the fledgling outfit, as a reported dislocated shoulder to NTC graduate Emily Harbis looks set to keep the forward out for the start of the NPLW season.