Fawkner Park housed one of the biggest shock results of the season so far as a Sara Alberici hat-trick helped South Yarra to their first points of the season, with a 5-0 win over Casey Comets on Sunday afternoon.
With the opening minutes punctuated only by the loud insistent yelling of both coaches the game started out slowly.
Right from the outset South Yarra were pushing forward with Alberici and Marcela Marques keeping pressure well into the Casey defence.
The Comets weren’t taking it easy but countering well with Amy Radford maintaining forward pressure when the ball was in the attacking half.
Sensing a chance, Alberici managed to break free from defence and tap a shot past Alyse Brusamarello but the linesman had his flag raised and the ball was called back to keep the scores level.
At the other end, Amy Radford made her own run towards the South Yarra goal, but keeper Claire Imray threw herself in front of the ball.
The game halted for a few minutes as medical staff checked up on the local favourite before resuming again.
After half an hour had passed, tempers started to fray and tackles started to get later resulting in Hannah Charman for South Yarra and Harriet Cordner and Shanoah Hurley for Casey seeing yellow within minutes of each other.
Just when it looked like the teams would finish the half scoreless, Charman stepped in to take advantage of a ball bouncing around the box; the clean strike opened scoring and sent the local fans cheering.
Those cheers turned into rapturous applause when Madeline Jona stepped up with a shot from distance, flying past the defence on the way to a 2-0 half-time lead.
After the break Casey renewed their attack on the South Yarra defence with contests between Melissa Kirby and Samantha Tighe getting quite heated.
Marques brought South Yarra back to the fore sending a deft pass through to Alberici who finished cleanly and silenced the Casey sidelines.
Alberici seemed to have found her groove for the game and followed up with a second goal finishing a rebound from a stop by Brusamarello.
Casey, through Ahouk Meerebour and their entire right side, weren’t ready to park the bus and kept attacking relentlessly, even against the insurmountable odds.
The day just wasn’t meant to be for the Comets though.
Already with two on the board, Alberici took the Casey defence to task and was fouled just inside the area, forcing the referee into blowing for a spot kick.
Stepping up calmly, she finished the penalty she’d won to claim the match ball and push South Yarra above the visitors on the WPL ladder.
With the final whistle sounding, it rang in a new dawn for South Yarra, who’d set its mark on the league after six rounds.
With a limited start to the game they’d ended firing on all cylinders with defence and midfield holding their Casey counterparts at bay.
The Comets left Fawkner Park crestfallen, with a good amount of work needed for their next game.
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FC South Yarra 5 (Charman 42’, Jona 45+3’, Alberici 57’ 63’ 88’) defeated Casey Comets 0 at Fawkner Park [HT: 2-0]
South Yarra: 1. Claire Imray, 2. Hayley Walkinshaw, 3. Sarah Dash, 4. Samantha Tighe, 5. Lindsay Dore, 6. Hannah Charman, 7. Eliza Mealin(16. Ashley Ledoux 69’), 8. Madeline Jona(12. Priscilla Ribas 77’), 9. Marcela Marques, 10. Aoife Murphy (12. Gretel Templeton 69′), 11. Sara Alberici
Unused Substitute(s): Ashleigh Bellman, Katherine Foster
Yellow Cards: Charman 36’
Red Cards: Nil
Casey Comets: 1. Alyse Brusamarello, 7. Sheridan Dudley, 12. Harriet Cordner, 4. Rachael Binning, 2. Shaunna Murray, 3. Laura Croft, 14. Ahouk Meerebour, 16. Katrina Avila, 10. Amy Radford (13. Olivia Gregory 76’), 8. Sharnoah Hurley, 5. Melissa Kirby( 2. Jessica Thompson 76’)
Yellow Card(s): Cordner 39′, Hurley 40’
Red Card(s): Nil