A freezing Friday night saw only two of the three planned fixtures go ahead after Casey’s clash with Sandringham got called off. The other two games provided plenty of action for those brave few to take on mother nature. Monbulk looked good before succumbing to Bundoora United 3-2, with Box Hill and Bulleen Lions also played out a 3-2 result, with the former finishing on top.
South Melbourne came back from two goals behind to scupper the FFV U17 Girls’ potential upset. There was an upset which took place however, as second bottom Ashburton triumphed 1-0 over Heidelberg United.
The final game of the round saw Boroondara Eagles rout Cairnlea 5-0 to put to bed their 6-1 loss against Casey the week prior.
Formation 3-4-3
GK: Alex Pocklington (Ashburton Womens)
A superb performance from Ashburton’s shot-stopper, who made a number of quality saves to not only keep a clean sheet, but condemn Heidelberg to a shock loss at – quite literally – the hands of Ashburton and their star in goals.
CB: Olivia Ellis (Bulleen Lions)
The left-back squeezes in as the wide centre-half in our Team of the Week. The young girl put in a industrious shift, running up and down the left flank like a yo-yo. While her side may have conceded three goals on the night, she had the better of her direct opponent Cristina Cardaci in the enthrawling head-to-head contest.
CB: Christine Pfeiffer (Ashburton Womens)
Despite going down with a suspected knee injury in last week’s loss to Sandringham, Pfeiffer was unstoppable this time round as she kept Heidelberg at bay. She stopped absolutely everything her opponents threw at her in a complete defensive performance.
CB: Leah Barrett (Boroondara Eagles)
A strong performance from Barrett set up a memorable 5-0 win for Boroondara Eagles against a lacklustre Cairnlea. She was powerful in her approach, blocking, intercepting and clearing her lines with aplomb. She did her best Eddy Bosnar impression at the death, slotting home a powerful free-kick in injury time to cap off her performance.
LM: Liesl Woods (Monbulk Rangers)
Liesl Woods was the catalyst for Monbulk in the opening half, putting in a number of quality deliveries, including the ball that saw the Rangers take a shock lead within 20 minutes. She also had a number of chances to trouble the scorers but failed to capitalise. Woods played on the right but was narrowly ousted in her preferred position.
CM: Letizia Sammut (Box Hill United)
It was a massive opening half an hour from Sammut which put Box Hill on the path to victory, earning a penalty before scoring herself two minutes later. She did fade over the course of the match but her early impact sees her more that earn her spot in the line-up.
CM: Ash Callaghan (Boroondara Eagles)
Callaghan has really caught the eye in her debut WPL season with Boroondara. She once again found herself in the votes after the big result against Cairnlea, displaying good vision, distribution and work rate to aid an assist and goal for the afternoon.
RM: Padiki Dade (Bundoora United)
Dade is another to impress this season, having been named the WPL player of the month as just reward for her form. She once again troubled on the right flank, netting the goal to put United in the lead as well as delivering a number of good deliveries to flagpole striker Elly Curo. Stacey Papadopoulos on the other flank also had a good game and is unlucky to miss out on selection.
ST: Ellen Turner (Boroondara Eagles)
Adept at playing on the left wing, Turner pushed in more centrally this week, on the left side of attack where she netted twice – one being the opener – to put her side along the path to victory.
ST: Elly Curo (Bundoora United)
At the tender age of 22, it’s intriguing that the Albanian international has been through so many WPL clubs. She’s certainly made a good start at her new home at Bundoora, netting twice in her full-debut at Monbulk. She showed good positioning all night, and displayed a clinical poachers instinct to poke home twice from two quality deliveries.
ST: Laura Spiranovic (South Melbourne)
Voted as the player of the match, Laura Spiranovic had another good game in South colours. She caused trouble all night, creating plenty, winning the penalty – converted by Eliadis – and scoring a header of her own to cap off a tidy performance.
Substitutes:
Jamie Brown (FFV U17 Girls)
Saved her side’s bacon on a number of occasions but was eventually overcome by the South’s pressure. Regardless, the young keeper made a number of quality stops to keep the likes of Eliadis and Spiranovic at bay for the good part of an hour.
Emma Heckenberg (Box Hill United)
Heckenberg had a stellar game wondering the defence; cutting out a number of Bulleen attacks and was crucial in allowing United to escape with the three points. She often picked out danger signs before they manifested into opportunities and limited the Lions potency.
Natalie Martineau (South Melbourne)
The midfielder was at her influential best in the centre of midfield, scuppering attacks and delivering further forward on the pitch. She tested Jamie Brown on a couple of occasions but was unable to impact the scores.
Cindy Lay (Bulleen Lions)
The Melbourne Victory midfielder unfortunately misses out on a starting berth but don’t let that take anything away from her performance. With Jess Tay, Lia Privitelli and Dani Gudelj all missing from the starting XI, Lay stood up to match a Letizia Sammut led Box Hill through the middle of the park, nabbing a goal and assist.
Nikki Ceeney (Monbulk Rangers)
Another unlucky to miss the cut is Monbulk’s Nikki Ceeney who was another standout in the middle of the park for the bottom placed Rangers. The captain was industrious at both ends, getting onto the end of a curling Woods cross to hammer home the opener as well as set up a number of chances for her teammates around her.
Beattie Goad (FFV U17 Girls)
The NTC girls best outfield performer throughout the contest. Goad put in a decent shift, scoring a composed goal to put the FFV side 2-0 to the good. Teammate Annabelle Martin was also nominated as a standout for the away side.
Thanks as always to the number of reporters present to help compose this week’s team; Teo Pellizzeri (@teopellizzeri), Cheryl Downes (@ChicasFootball) and The Corner Flag’s Mark Gojszyk (@hahahamark) and Andrew Bishara (@_andrewbishara).