While Melbourne City grabbed the points in an historic first Women’s Melbourne Derby, the match will perhaps best be remembered for how well it showcased the talent of young Victorian footballers.
For Melbourne Victory goalkeeper Melissa Barbieri in particular – who’s seen plenty of talent come through the system in a distinguished career – the match was a sign of the exciting times ahead for both camps and the future of football in the state.
“It’s come a long way since I started and it’s great to see so many Victorian players. It’s all about making sure we have players in each state and those states are represented in those playing groups,” Barbieri said in the aftermath of the 2-1 defeat at the hands of City.
“I know [City] had a few players out today so [their replacement players] are just testament to the young players coming through and I think it bodes well for Victorian football.
“We’ve got kids out there don’t we? It was a battle of the WNPL really, which is great to see because we have so many great Victorian players.
“It was good to see that we could have so many young players making their debuts, and scoring on their debuts; how about that from Whitney [Knight], it was a great finish.”
She was particularly proud of the way the youngsters applied themselves on the grand stage of a Melbourne Derby at AAMI Park, with debutants Melissa Taranto and the aforementioned Knight amongst seven teenagers the Victory fielded.
That young side steered into half-time with the game locked at 0-0, with Barbieri admitting it was tough for her side to maintain those performance levels, but knows what to build on for the rest of the season.
“It was just about keeping doing what we were doing, our work-rate was really high and Dave [Edmondson] wanted us to continue that,” she said.
“The size of AAMI Park, it’s very daunting for young players, so when we’ve got to go out there and keep the momentum up, it’s very hard for the young players as you only need one mistake and it makes it very hard for them to keep that level of [performance]. It’s fitness, but it’s also mental as well, but that comes with age really.
“We’re a young team so anything that we can take out of a game, we will and we’ll focus on those strong, positive points. But the girls know it’s a learning curve.
“Every week is about building on that platform and we’ve set the standard last week, set the standard again [on Sunday]. I can’t fault the girls, they’re putting in 100% and leaving nothing in the tank, look at them. I’ll go back into the change rooms and they’ll have nothing.”