Bentleigh Greens FC 1 -7 Preston Lions
By Joe Rosedon 15/7/24
Above: Preston Lions in dominant form. Photo: Preston Lions FC Instagram
Preston thrash bottom of the table Bentleigh to keep pressure on league leaders Bulleen. A first Preston hat-trick for Mebae Tanka, a double from Susan Phonsongkham and goals from Haley Johnson and Ellie La Monte contributed to a near perfect performance from the away side.
In the early moments of the game, Preston demonstrated why they were in such a lofty league position, suffocating Bentleigh with their high press. Typically, it was Bentleigh who then opened the scoring in the tenth minute
Maeve Brown’s cross could only be cleared to Olivia Bomford on the edge of the box. The captain had only one thing in mind. Her effort in actuality was tame but poor goalkeeping from Charlotte Hrehoresin, spilling the ball on the goal line, gave the home side an unexpected lead
Bentleigh’s lead lasted all of four minutes. Johnson’s reverse pass found an on rushing Tanaka. Bentleigh’s calls for offside were waved away as Tanaka fired home at Melissa Barbieri’s near post for her nineth goal of the season
Tanaka soon had her tenth. A blistering counter attack saw neat an interchange between Phonsongkham and Johnson, sending the former into space down the right-hand side. Phonsongkham was then able to deliver a pin point cross for Tanaka in the penalty area to put Preston into the lead.
Johnson, who was critical for the second goal, added the thirdfor Preston. A ricocheted Phonsongkham cross found Johnson close to the goal. She then took a deft touch to take the ball past Lucy Allison and lashed the ball past Barbieri for her 21stgoal of the season.
It was only right that Phonsongkham got in on the goal scoring action next. After receiving the ball from a Georgia Henderson touch, Phonsongkham cut into the box on her right foot and curled home a neat finish to add the fourth goal of the game for the visitors.
Tanaka then completed a well-deserved hat trick and unsurprisingly Phonsongkham was involved again. Her delicate lay off was met my Tanaka who drove into the boxand with a lethal finish across Barbieri, gave Tanaka her first hat-trick for Preston.
A rampant Preston then got their sixth goal and it was the pick of the bunch. La Monte was able to evade multiple attempts to disposes her of the ball by Bentleigh with outstanding close control. She then set her sights on the goal, drilling the ball into the bottom left corner.
Preston had one more goal left in them and it was Phonsongkham doing honours again. Using her pace, she raced past Madeline Cook down the right-hand side after a route one pass from Dakota Thyssen set her in on goal. On arrival into the box, Phonsongkham scored the seventh in composed fashion, sealing a dominant victory.
This was a disappointing performance from the home side who remain at the bottom of the table. Yet the is only two points between themselves and Moreland in tenth. They will get important results sooner rather than later if they want to remain in the league. They next face Alamein away from home
The gap between Bulleen in first and Preston in second remains at six points and with the two facing each other on the 12th August, Preston remains hopeful that a league title is still on the cards if results go their way. Their next game is at home to Calder.
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