Former Matildas no. 1 Melissa Barbieri is to return to competitive action tonight, The Corner Flag can reveal.
The Box Hill custodian has been pencilled in for Box Hill’s Women’s Premier League game against unbeaten Sandringham tonight, making it her first appearance for the club since the Round 14 tie against Bundoora last season.
That home game last year ended 2-1 in Box Hill’s favour, and Barbieri will be hoping for similar good tidings this time round as she makes her long awaited return after the birth of her child.
Barbieri had been back in training at Wembley Park for more than a month and would have convinced coach Jeff Hawkins that she was ready to make a return to first team football.
The goalkeeper has won 80 caps for Australia in a glittering international career, and had always maintained that she could keep on going even while awaiting the birth of her first child.
Box Hill have since informed us that Stephanie Brewer, who had been donning the gloves for the first four rounds, is out for four weeks due to a shoulder injury, necessitating the change.
The seniors fixture between Box Hill and Sandringham will kick off at 8.30pm tonight at Wembley Park, Box Hill South.
Apology: We had earlier stated that Stephanie Brewer had been dropped to the reserves according to information we received. It was not so. We apologise unreservedly to Brewer and Box Hill for the error.