Stephanie Tanti might look unassuming at first, especially in a Sandringham outfit loaded with tall strong bodies, but what she lacks in size she really makes up in skill.
Playing in the hole behind the front two in a 4-3-1-2 formation, the former Melbourne Victory player showed signs of her class as she did her best to keep the game flowing for the visitors.
Her playing qualities are obvious the moment she gets on the ball, immediately drawing fellow teammates to her and becoming something of a ball magnet, collecting multiple passes at one time while keeping things simple.
This was shown in her passing statistics for the match as she achieved 79% passing accuracy out of 43 passes throughout the match. This statistic for an attacking midfielder is highly impressive, and more importantly most of the passes came in the opposition half.
Her biggest contribution in the first 45 minutes came as she won the ball in Box Hill’s half on the right wing and drew a teammate to play a quick one two to create a shot opening. She powered the shot in from the edge of the box only to see Box Hill custodian Stefanidis hold onto it.
When Sandringham’s goal came in the first half, it was ironic that she was not involved in it as she had been involved in every attack up to that point.
The second half was more of the same for Tanti, as she continued racking up the touches whenever Sandringham won possession of the ball. However, as her legs began to get weary, she began to drop into a deeper midfield position.
It still did not change the way she played though, as she continued to link fellow teammates together from a deeper position and even started to attempt some longer ground passes, two of which managed to unlock Box Hill’s defence.
Tanti was not afraid of getting stuck in when required, as evidenced by her 7 attempted tackles and 4 attempted headers on the night, even committing a foul midway through the first half.
She was also effective when carrying the ball throughout the match, when in a game devoid of much space she was able to engineer some for herself.
If there was one criticism looking at the statistics it would have been her cross completion rate. But to pull that up is being harsh as she was the team’s designated corner taker.
High flyers Sandringham ended up with a well earned point against defending champions Box Hill United.
While coaches from both sides lamented the scrappy nature of the contest, at least there was one player who went about her business consistently.