A devastating Bulleen Lions spell at the end of the first half delivered a 3-1 win against Sandringham in their Women’s Premier League bout at the Veneto Club on Monday night.
Bulleen’s mid-season revival continued with a second straight win that puts the Lions (seventh, 16 points) back within touching distance of fifth-placed Sandringham (18).
Goals to Cindy Lay and Dani Gudelj in the last seven minutes before the break put Bulleen out of reach at 3-0 ahead after Caitlin Friend’s 13th-minute penalty opened the scoring.
Sandringham edged the second half but failed to convert enough of the chances their improved play had created to genuinely threaten a comeback.
Bulleen spurned a golden early chance as Gudelj shot straight at Sandringham goalkeeper Niki Cook, but headed to the penalty spot within a minute of the miss.
Isabella Scott burst down the left to win the spot-kick after a foul off Emma Robers.
Cook got hands to Friend’s penalty high down the middle but could not keep the shot out.
Save for some ambitious attempts from distance, it was a flat first half from Sandringham.
With the game drifting, Bulleen stepped up the tempo in the 10 minutes before the break and doubled their advantage in the 38th minute when Beattie Goad’s cross from the right picked out an unmarked Lay who buried the chance from the top of the area.
And the Lions were well on top by the 44th minute when Scott’s burst down the left and cross into a crowded penalty area was bundled in by Gudelj, via a touch from Friend.
Cook stepped up to deny Goad one-on-one both before and after the break as Bulleen threatened more goals.
Emma Runnalls arrival in the second half – on the comeback from a toe injury – bought some balance back to the contest as Sandringham found a threat to the Bulleen defence.
Runnalls was integral to Sandringham’s goal in the 54th minute as she pressed Emily Dolzan and goalkeeper Cass Dimovski to win the ball and tee-up Annabelle Gibney for a close-range tap-in.
Sandringham’s best chance for a second came in the 77th minute when Gibney played through Runnalls only for Dolzan to back-track in time and clear Runnalls’ goal-bound shot off the line.
An end-to-end finish to the match was met with neither good finishing or clear-cut chances as Bulleen’s two-goal cushion proved enough.
Sandringham switched Cook into goals after an injury to Ingrid Philippe in the warm-up. Striker Nicola Westwood missed the match with work commitments.
“First half we weren’t at the races,” Sandringham coach Deb Nichols said.
“We did that against Boroondara as well and we’ve got to find a way to be better. It’s cost us two games now.
“We got Emma Runnalls through 45 minutes, she probably could have had a hat-trick in the second half. If we got the second goal it could have been quite interesting.”
Read More > Isabella Scott talks about rise in confidence in Bulleen camp
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FC Bulleen Lions 3 (Friend [p] 13′, Lay 38′, Gudelj 44′) defeated Sandringham 1 (Gibney 54′) at Veneto Club [HT: 3-0]
FC Bulleen Lions: 1. DIMOVSKI Cassandra (GK), 2. SERNIO Tessa (C), 3. SCOTT Isabella, 5. STOCKDALE Maddie, 6. FRIEND Caitlin, 8. LAY Cindy (10. COPPOCK Em 73′), 16. GOAD Beattie, 17. WEST Charlee, 19. GUDELJ Daniela (7. BEAGLEY Ashleigh 66′), 20. NATOLI Alex, 22. DOLZAN Emily.
Unused Substitute(s): 3. SEPE Giulia, 11. MURE Tayla, 43. SNELLEKSZ Tori
Yellow Card(s): Nil
Red Card(s): Nil
Sandringham SC: 21. COOK Niki (GK), 2. DIDUSZKO Lauren, 4. ROBERS Emma, 6. PARTON Stephanie, 7. SHEARING Kirstie, 10. TANTI Stephanie, 11. KAPUSTA Lucy (12. GLEADELL Eliza 68′), 18. FOGARTY Sienna (c), 19. GIBNEY Annabelle, 28. MORRIS-KRAUSE Emily, 50. GREENWOOD Lois (9. RUNNALLS Emma 46′)
Unused Substitute(s): 1. PHILIPPE Ingrid, 20. STUART Hannah, 30. O’BRIEN Lily
Yellow Card(s): Fogarty 72′, Tanti 80′
Red Card(s): Nil