South Melbourne became the last team with an unbeaten record this weekend, as challengers Bundoora and Sandringham stumbled. Box Hill reaffirmed their title credentials with a fine win over a depleted Bundoora, while gutsy Bulleen grabbed their first point away to Sandringham.
There were many fine team performances from the weekend, and of course individual efforts that didn’t go unnoticed. A five-goal haul and a glut of hattricks to go with some stellar defensive displays, we really were a little spoilt this past game week.
Here we give you the best performers from the weekend that was.
Starting Eleven
Despite being called into action at the last minute, young Heidelberg goalkeeper Kehley Bitzas grabbed her opportunity with both hands. Never mind that the official team sheets still listed Zaira Douglas in goals (as did the post-game match report), Bitzas took it all in her stride and produced a gritty performance that her coach would have been proud of. Her team conceded three goals in the end, but it might have been much more had their goalkeeper not pulled off some brilliant saves that kept them in the game.
Some say the captaincy is a poisoned chalice, that good players become average ones under the extra responsibility. That doesn’t seem to have been the case for Casey’s Laura Croft. Melissa Atherton’s successor easily held the defence firm against a faltering Altona, before delivering a coup de grâce of her own with a fine diving header off a powerful Jaymee Dudley corner kick. She’ll be feeling that one for awhile, you reckon.
Forming a formidable central defensive unit with Croft in our Team of the Week is Emily Coppock. Bulleen’s centre-half was a rock in front of goal as her team held off a much-fancied Sandringham side. Nicola Prins put Sandringham into an early lead but that was all they got as a much vaunted attack failed to make any inroads before Bulleen grabbed a deserved equaliser. Goalkeeper Melissa Maizels had perhaps only one real on-target save to make despite the threat that Prins, Stephanie Tanti and co. posed all night. This was a massive performance.
The rest of Bulleen’s back four were equally fantastic on Monday evening as they held back the light-blue tide, but special mention definitely has to be given to Elise Manassa who somehow managed to keep none other than Stephanie Catley quiet for 45 minutes. Some of the Bulleen players will readily attest to the fact that they’ve never faced an opponent with so much skill before, but it would have been the Matilda who would have gone home disappointed after failing to win her personal battle with Manassa on the left flank.
Someone who did make an impact for Sandringham though was full back Lucy Kapusta. One half of a pair of twins playing for the same team, Kapusta was unpassable in the first half as she blocked every Bulleen move down her wing while setting up attacking plays when they were in possession of the ball. The tough-as-nails defender finally made one stick right before halftime, a measured ball down the line finding an accelerating Prins in space to smash home the opener.
South Melbourne’s Morany Chek reappears for the second week in a row, having contributed plenty in her team’s 12-0 drubbing of Preston. While some of her other teammates might have stolen the show with their goalscoring feats, the stylish midfielder showed she was not going to be left out with two goals and two assists. Her opener was a thing of beauty, as she broke the offside trap with a darting run to collect Lauren Farrugia’s lob, before rolling the ball gently past the Preston goalkeeper.
Over at Ashburton Park, Ashburton captain Christine Pfeiffer played out of her skin as her team finally got back on track with a fine 5-0 win over Cairnlea. A first half hattrick only told half the tale as Pfeiffer dominated the midfield and took the game by the scruff of the neck. Ashburton will need many more such performances from their captain if they are to have a fine campaign, but on the evidence of the first few weeks, this is one player who will be giving it her all week in and week out.
There was yet another hattrick over at Comets Stadium as Jaymee Dudley banged home a treble of her own. The Casey right winger showed little fear in taking on defenders all day and beating them with both skill and pace all afternoon. Her pick of the goals definitely had to be a tremendous effort from near the corner flag that somehow found it’s way into the top corner of the net. Super.
But of course Tiffany Eliadis would trumped all that at Lakeside Stadium with a hand in half of the 12 goals notched against Preston. There were fears that she might have sustained an injury early on after a tackle took her ankle out from under her, but the former NTC prospect got back to her feet angrier and more determined than ever. What followed was an astonishing 25 minute burst as Eliaidis punished her opponents with five consecutive goals to put South Melbourne firmly in the driving seat. There might even have been a sixth on the stroke of regulation time, but teammate Ellvana Curo got a touch just as it was going over the line to deny her. Eliadis’ five-goal harvest has now propelled her to the top of the Golden Boot charts, but her coach must be hoping the purple patch has some ways to go yet.
And that brings us to Eliadis’ aforementioned teammate Ellvana Curo. The lanky striker was only a 55th minute substitute but set about making up for lost time, laying on two assists for Eliadis before scoring two of her own. If Preston were struggling to cope with South Melbourne’s attackers early on in the game, they practically wilted as Curo opened them up. Curo’s final contribution would have been the touch on Eliadis’ goal bound header, but you couldn’t have denied that the hattrick was very much well deserved.
Box Hill finally roared into life this weekend as rivals Bundoora felt that familiar sinking feeling. After failing to beat the defending champions in four encounters last year, the girls in Bundy yellow would have been optimistic but their unbeaten streak was duly snapped by a resurgent Box Hill. Seyma Erenli was the chief instigator, her brace condemning Bundoora to their first loss of the season. At a goal a game average, Box Hill’s newest striker acquisition has surely adapted to her new surroundings. Look for plenty more this season from Erenli.
Substitutes
Liesel Woods: When you’ve comprehensively outplayed your direct opponent, you know you’ve had a good game. Such was Wood’s lot as she completely overran her marker for most of the game against Cairnlea.
Maria Patrikis: The Ashburton defender was an unlikely creative force on the weekend, laying on two goals for her team captain Pfeiffer while also tidying up at the back.
Helina Vunderl-Messis: One of South Melbourne’s most versatile players, the young Vunderl-Messis combines aggression and power, a lethal combination coming off the bench. Her 40 yard free kick goal from the right wing was so devastating that the goalkeeper could only palm it into the roof of her net, amazing considering Vunderl-Messis was still groggy after being bodily shoved out of bounds to win it in the first place.
Beattie Goad: The flame haired winger was a devilish presence on the wing for EAP as they notched up yet another impressive win over Heidelberg. Goad worked hard all game and caused numerous problems for the scrambling Bergers defence.
Brittany Dudley-Smith: The Casey player deserves a mention in our team of the week, if not for the threat she poses every weekend, then at least for the three goals she plundered against a hapless Altona side. She’s now third on the Golden Boot standings, and must be eyeing plenty more goals in the weeks to come.
