By Zee Ko, B.T. Connor Reserve – 19 May 2013
Egos bruised, bodies battered, the two teams fronted up for an intriguing match up in this Round 6 encounter. It was a day for symmetry, as the Lions from Bulleen took on the Lions from Preston, with both teams sharing but a single point between them prior to kick off. Lady Luck had been missing from these parts for some time now, and both sides would have been desperately hoping for a positive result.
It did come in the end, the points shared in a draw that was equal parts fair and harsh at the same time. But it came at a cost, as both Preston and Bulleen lost a player each to serious looking injuries. What surprised though was the intensity on show on the day, 90 minutes of back-and-forth football that made this high stakes contest an enthralling one to watch.
There was grit, there was desire. This wasn’t some relegation dead rubber between two poor teams. It was raw, it was exciting and there was genuine feeling both in the stands and on the pitch. From start to finish, from Suzan Tanrikulu’s freak opener to Cassandra Neate’s scrambled late equaliser, there was a sense that this was football drama at its finest.
This was apparent as joy turned to despair for Preston, as goalscorer Tanrikulu was mobbed following her goal before being forced off with a possible broken leg minutes later. Tanrikulu’s first WPL goal was hardly a thing of beauty, a 30 yard effort that the defender is unlikely to repeat in her career but Preston would not have cared a jot. As Bulleen goalkeeper Melissa Maizels stood frozen in shock, having just been flummoxed by a wicked bounce of the ball that carried it past her and into the net, Preston’s Antonia Boljesic leapt into the arms of her stunned team mate. It was only the team’s sixth goal in six rounds, and the threadbare squad suddenly got even smaller as the player of the moment was gingerly helped off but five minutes later.
Forced into a sudden change, Preston coach Zivko Kolevski threw on winger Juliane Albuquerque. A bit too hastily perhaps, as referee George Loukeris showed her a yellow card for entering the field of play without permission. You could have forgiven Kolevski though, his plans in disarray as Melissa Rodriguez was shifted back into defence alongside a newly promoted Jade Gatto.
Matters were not going swimmingly at the other end either, as opposite number Adrian Drury decided to switch things up in an attempt to regain the upper hand. Lone striker Olivia Ellis had been toiling without much result up front, and she was moved on to a wing as central defender Emily Coppock was pushed forward. But still the equaliser refused to come, as poor finishing and some dogged defending from Preston kept the visitors out until half time.
Things came to a boil shortly after the break as Salma Tawfic crumpled into a heap near the edge of her box. As Bulleen’s players gestured desperately for the ball to be kicked out of play, their pleas fell on deaf ears as their opponents pressed forward regardless. Goalkeeper Maizels rushed off her line to collect the ball following a poor touch, before getting involved in a short altercation with Casey Naumovski that required the referee’s intervention.
Something had to give before long as Drury made a calculated gamble, sending on Cassandra Neate for an excellent Alessandra Loudouvaris. The substitution was to pay off in spades, as Bulleen started making inroads into Preston’s half. One thing they failed to count on though, was Preston goalkeeper Alexandra Bogdanovski.
A perfectly weighted Olivia Ellis cross went sailing across the face of goal and on to an unmarked Neate at the far post, the substitute doing her bit and arrowing a snap shot on target. But as the noisy away supporters leapt up from their seats in anticipation, Bogdanovski came flying out of nowhere to make the block, having scrambled the entire length of the goal to get there.
The visitors were piling on the pressure now, Bogdanovski once again called into action to save a curling Jessica Tay effort from long range, but there was nothing she could do with ten minutes to go as Neate fired in a shot through a sea of legs and past the unsighted Preston custodian. As Tay grabbed the ball out of the net and sprinted to the restart, the tension was ratcheted up yet another notch.
Explosive winger Brittany Thomas had a glorious chance to win the game for Bulleen with just injury time to go, latching on to a booming Maizels clearance but Bogdanovski was smartly out to clear, before clawing away a inadvertent sliced clearance by Jade Gatto that looked to be heading for the top corner as time expired.
The spoils were shared in the end, a relieved Kolevski and a frustrated Drury exchanging an obligatory handshake as the two teams trooped off the pitch. Preston’s first point of the season was hard won, Bulleen’s second a testament to their refusal to give in. But more important than the result or the points on offer was the grit and desire on show, both which will more likely than not prove vital if either team is to make a belated winning start to this young campaign.