A resounding looking 7-1 result at State Football Centre didn’t tell the full story as the Senior NTC put away a 10-player Caulfield United Cobras on Saturday afternoon.
A sending off and penalty acted as the catalyst for a big Senior NTC result, as they ran away with a 7-1 victory over Caulfield United Cobras with a mammoth second half showing
A hat-trick to Ashleigh Lefevre and a performance of the highest order from Annabelle Martin – who also scored – highlighted a stellar outing for the elite pathways outfit, who were also forced to come from behind following a goal to Stephanie Wood.
But other singles to Melindaj Barbieri, Emily Harbis and Molly Burke saw out the mammoth result, their first points in four games.
For all of NTC’s dominance in the second half, it was Caulfield that started the brighter, and they only had to wait eight minutes for the first goal, which came via a set piece.
Anita Les fired a perfect delivery into the area from the left flank, which saw Wood rise highest to nod home the opener with a soaring header.
No one would’ve predicted the turnaround that the NTC lead from thereon out; especially given they had to wait till the 32nd minute for an equaliser.
They enjoyed a few good forays forward, but they finally capitalised through Barbieri, with Ash Lefevre sliding a ball through for her to comfortably finish past Jayde Shorter.
It remained 1-1 at the break, but some magic words must have done the trick for the hosts, as they piled on six unanswered in an emphatic 45 minutes of football.
Lead from the back with skipper Annabelle Martin providing drive down both fullback flanks, she was involved in a brilliant second for NTC, playing in Whitney Knight on the right who sent a perfectly weighted cross to Lefevre at the far post to header home.
There was plenty of controversy over NTC’s second, as Stephanie Locandro was sent off for a last ditch tackle on Lefevre, and despite the deflection off the NTC forward going into the net, the referee blew for a penalty instead.
Emily Harbis ensured there was no love lost between players and ref by hammering home from the spot to make it 3-1 within seven minutes of the restart.
NTC skipper Martin grabbed a fourth for her side with a stunning solo effort, cutting in off the right back flank, beating two defenders before firing a rapier like strike across the face of goals.
Lefevre continued to terrorise the Cobras defence, and put them to the sword for a fifth time with a neat finish on 71 minutes.
Despite spending the majority of the clash on the pine, Molly Burke put her name on the scorers sheet with a deflected effort with 10 minutes to play.
But fittingly, the final effort of the day was to go to Lefevre, who took the ball in her stride inside the area, finishing with aplomb to cap the contest off.
The Cobras found it hard going in the second half but did enjoy a few, albeit sporadic, forays into the forward half, but were often halted by the iron walls of Coby McInerney and Jaimee Williams who both also impressed in defence.
Photos: Amanda Williams/Backline Photography
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Senior NTC 7 (Barbieri 32’, Lefevre 49’ 71’ 90’, Harbis [p] 52’, Martin 64’, Burke 81’) defeated Caulfield United Cobras 1 (Wood 8’) at State Football Centre [HT: 1-1]
Senior NTC squad: 16. Teresa MORRISSEY (GK), 13. Annabelle MARTIN (c), 31. Coby MCINERNEY, 2. Jaimee WILLIAMS, 17. Hayley RICHMOND, 6. Adriana TARANTO, 8. Meilssa TARANTO, 14. Edith FORDYCE-CROKER, 11. Whitney KNIGHT, 33. Ashleigh LEFEVRE, 25. Melindaj BARBIERI, 3. Natasha DAKIC, 30. Celia KELSALL (GK), 15. Akeisha SANDHU, 22. Molly BURKE, 7. Emily HARBIS
Yellow Card(s): Nil
Red Card(s): Nil
Caulfield United Cobras squad: 1. Jayde SHORTER (GK), 14. Dani JACKSON (c), 8. Anita LES, 22. Cassandra MAYSTON, 9. Alex VASSILOPOULOS, 4. Jaimee BROWN, 16. Irena MALLIARAS, 33. Louise MCMULLEN, 23. Victoria ARGYOPOULOS, 20. Stephanie LOCANDRO, 34. Stephanie WOOD, 19. Ruby BINGHAM, 35. Shelby SWINEY, 18. Grace BUCHAN, 25. Lucrece LAVERDURE
Yellow Card(s): Nil
Red Card(s): Locandro 51’