NPLW Victoria: Bentleigh Greens FC 1-4 South Melbourne FC
By Joe Rosedon 9/6/24
South Melbourne scored four goals to defeat Bentleigh Greens FC. Goals from Emily Roach, Meisha Westland and a double from Danielle Micallef contributed to a stunning second half performance.
It was South Melbourne who had the first opportunity of the game. Tayla Christensen collected the ball in her own half, drove to the outside of the box and hammered the ball of the crossbar
But it was Bentleigh Greens who opened the scoring against the run of play. Isabella Fernandez was found with acres of space down the left-hand side. Her cutback reached Madeline Cook whose initial effort produced an excellent save from Christina Esposito. However, following in was Candice Kilderry to fire home the parried ball to give the home team the lead. Kilderry almost set up a second for Bentleigh, her cross was poked away from Isabella Fernandez by Espostitoin the penalty area.
Cook could have scored too for Bentleigh in the latter stages of the first half, winning the ball back from Grace Rapp high up the pitch but curled her effort just wide of the post
South Melbourne opened the half with hitting the crossbar and closed the first half by hitting the crossbar. A dangerous corner caused chaos in the Bentleigh Greens defence; Maeve Brown’s eventual clearance clipping the bar on its way out of play.
From the outset of the second half, South Melbourne ramped up the pressure. This pressure was awarded with a penalty as Aimee Medwin was tripped in the box. Emily Roach did therest, scoring her third goal of the season to equalise
It felt as if a second goal for South Melbourne was just around the corner. Indeed, it was, and this time Medwin was the architect. Her intricate dribbling manufactured space down the right- hand side, past Jueun Han. Her cross was pinpoint for Mesiha Westland who had the simple task to head home. South Melbourne had turned it around in the space of twenty second half minutes.
But South Melbourne had not finished the goal scoring yet and third came from the penalty spot once again and it was Medwin who was brought down once again. This time it was captain Danielle Micallef’s turn to convert from twelve yards to give South Melbourne a 3-1 lead
The captain then added the fourth and final goal. A clearance from Bentleigh’s goalkeeper Melissa Barbieri could only find Tayla Christensen who fed the ball to Micallef. She composed herself and slotted home to seal the victory for South Melbourne.
South Melbourne keep the gap to one point between themselves in fourth and Essendon in third after this victory. Their next game is at home against second placed Preston Lions. A victory there could see them move up past Preston into second place, depending on other results
This is Bentleigh’s eight defeat in a row which leaves them second from bottom with six points. They next face Box Hill United who sit two places above them in the table in ninth. A victory in the game could see them climb up one place up to tenth in the table.
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