By Kieran Yap (3/7/23) (Kieran84@live.com.au)
Above: South Melbourne celebrate one of their four goals against Bayside United on the weekend. Image: @smfc Twitter
Boroondara-Carey returned to the summit, South Melbourne showed no mercy, while Box Hill United and Calder United also enjoyed important, but hard-earned wins. There were no draws in Round 16 of the NPLW Victoria, as the race for finals enters the home stretch.
Preston Lions 2-5 Boroondara Carey Eagles
Two matches were played on Friday night to open the round, and Preston had the chance to jump several places on the ladder with a win. Standing in their way was the relentless Boroondara side with the seemingly unstoppable Kurea Okino in attack.
Preston’s best chance of stopping the Golden Boot leader was Emma Checker, the Matildas and Melbourne City centre back was instrumental in their Round 15 win, and would be vital again.
Boroondara opened the scoring in the 21st minute. Hayley Geurts whipped a corner to the near post and it was skilfully flicked across goal and into the net by Emily Heijden.
Preston struck back in impressive fashion. Kaitlyn Torpey raced onto a through ball from deep and rounded the goalkeeper to make it 1-1 in the 32nd minute. Preston had kept composed while chasing the lead, and more importantly, they had kept organized. They had not only prevented a Boroondara counter-attack but taken their chance.
Geurts set piece delivery was the source of Boroondara’s second. A free kick taken from deep was headed on by Kristina Hall and Okino muscled her way into position before slotting the ball home.
Torpey responded by bringing up her brace for Preston Lions in similar style to her first. Two long balls was all it took to create the chance and the speedster raced onto Eleanor Jones’s lofted pass to round the keeper and score again.
The scores stayed level until the 80th minute, and with some momentum at home, Preston looked likely to snatch a surprise win. But Boroondara are in a rich vein of form and still had one more gear to go to.
In the 83rd minute, Margot Robbine spotted a gap in the Preston defence and slid a through ball into the path of Okino. With that sort of space, the Japanese striker was never going to miss, and she sank the hearts of the home fans with her second of the night.
Boroondara were not finished. Robbine received the ball wide on the right and with five Preston defenders ahead of her, she cut inside and scored from the edge of the box to make it 4-2 in the 85th minute.
If there was any doubt left about the result, that was put to rest when Maggie Eudes headed home from another set piece in the 94th minute to make it five. It had been an exhilarating finish to the game by Boroondara. Their attack is truly frightening and although they can be beaten for pace in defense, they have no fear of chasing or even losing a lead in search of three points.
In the space of minutes, Preston went from worrying about missing out in two points to finishing the night with none. It was a cruel end to the game for the home team, but they are not the first to concede a big score to The Eagles.
Box Hill United 4-1 FV Emerging
On a freezing night out at Knox Regional Football Facility, Melinda Barbieri brought the heat. The scoreline looks convincing, but this was a very tightly contested game, played at an elite pace.
Young Box Hill winger, Holly Tancin was impressive in the early stages, and her battle with Alana Cortellino for control of the flank was a highlight of the evening.
But it was Barbieri who was the obvious difference between the sides. Following on from a goal and an assist in Round 15, she contributed three goals against FV Emerging this week.
The first will go down as an own goal against Emerging. Berbieri’s cross was aimed at Asuka Doi but deflected in at the near post by the defender. It was a rough start for Emerging’s evening, they had conceded in the fourth minute.
Barbeiri doubled the lead 20 minutes later. She raced onto a long ball from midfield and took the ball around the onrushing Charlotte Hrehoresin. With the goalkeeper beaten, there was still work to do. The Emerging defenders had raced back to the goal line, but Barbieri remained composed, took a few more steadying touches, and made certain of the goal.
Barbieri’s second goal of the night, and Box Hill’s third arrived via a well-struck volley from close range. Box Hill kept possession in attack before finding room for a cross on the left. It was the confident finish of a player in form.
FV Emerging were behind, but not beaten yet. They came out with renewed purpose in the second half and immediately began testing the home side’s defence. They got their reward in the 72nd minute when Cortellino burst forward and outpaced two defenders. Emily Kos got a block to the eventual cross, but the deflection trickled toward goal, where it was finally lashed home by Danella Butrus.
Box Hill put an end to the comeback with a corner in the 88th minute that bounced in off an unlucky Hreshoresin.
Southern United 1-2 Calder United
Calder United are suddenly snapping at the heels of the top four after a win against bottom-placed Southern United. A Raequel Derales penalty and a Larissa Walsh goal were enough to overcome Yuka Sato’s strike for the home team.
Calder have steadily progressed throughout this season. Their full-strength back four have made a difference, but Derales’ impact has also been huge in attack. She gives them a target, a creator, and a goal scorer, and she personally earned the penalty kick that opened the scoring for the day.
From the throw-in, she looked to have lost control with her first touch but wriggled her way into the 18-yard box before being brought down by her marker. It was a tough way for Southern to concede, Derales was not yet in a dangerous position, the challenge was clumsy and not malicious, but it was right under the referee’s nose.
Calder doubled their lead in the 52nd minute. Derales was at the heart of the move once more. Her shot was blocked, but she shifted the rebound wide to Montana Matthews who’s cross eventually fell to Walsh. She swept the ball in from point-blank range after a brief scramble.
Yuka Sato pulled one back for Southern to keep things interesting in the late stages. Natalie Picak chose the right side to dive and got a strong hand to the 68th-minute penalty kick, but the power behind it was enough to see it bounce off the bar and over the line.
Southern could not find a second goal in the remaining 20 minutes of play. Calder now sit in fifth just one point behind Bayside United who had a day to forget against South Melbourne.
Bayside United 0-4 South Melbourne
“A series of unfortunate events” is the best way to describe Bayside’s loss. They were simply not at their best in small moments that had big consequences.
Against some sides, errors can go unpunished, but South Melbourne were in unforgiving form and took the opportunity to solidify their top-four position.
Janna Lawson scored the opening goal in the sixth minute. A poor touch from the Bayside defender gifted her an easy opportunity after Coco Majstorovic had rolled the ball out and been left exposed.
The second goal came in chaotic circumstances. A long ball forward from Brianne Reed found Danielle Wise who worked her way past the goalkeeper at the second attempt and finished from a tight angle.
Miesha Westland was in sensational form for the visitors. The South Melbourne midfielder linked play from deep and helped create the third goal for South Melbourne. Danielle Wise found space behind the Bayside defence and when Majstorovic and her central defender almost collided, Wise was left with an easy finish to effectively seal the result in the 66th minute.
Tayla Christensen scored the fourth after persistence paid off in the 76th minute. She carried the ball forward from deep in her own half. The long run down the left wing was eventually halted by the defence, but Leticia Mckenna intercepted Bayside’s attempt to play out from the back. She quickly slipped the ball back into the path of Christensen who finished from a tight angle to make it 4-0.
The win meant that South Melbourne jumped into second place with a superior goal difference to Bulleen Lions. They travel to face the in-form Box Hill United next week, while Bayside will look to respond against a rested Bulleen.
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