By Kieran Yap 18/3/26
Above: Keilor Park celebrating their win against Melbourne Victory. Photo: Passion Creations
Boroondara’s perfect record ends, but they remain undefeated. Keilor Park secure a memorable win against Victory , Markovski nets another brace, Keyt scores another winner and Spring Hills won a classic against The Preston in Round Five of the NPLW Vic.
Preston Lions and Spring Hills have both been sides with mixed results so far this season, but impressive performances and strong recruitment have made them essential viewing. When they faced off on Friday night of Round Five, it was always going to be an intriguing contest, and it was an entertaining game.
The goals came early. Spring Hills FC’s two big guns combined to open the scoring in the 19th minute. Aleks Sinclair turned her marker in midfield then played a ball wide for Margaux Clarke. The American recruit cut inside and unleashed a perfectly aimed effort into the bottom corner from outside of the box.
That opened the floodgates, and Preston equalised almost immediately through newly signed Draga Kljajic. The number 10 ran onto a loose ball in the box to score with a composed finish.
Almost instantly, Spring Hills re-took the lead. Once again it was Clarke who latched onto a defensive error to score her fourth goal in two weeks. More on her later in this column.
The drama kept coming and before half time, Preston had equalized again. Valentine Pursey collided with Jenna Ibrahim as the Spring Hills goalkeeper claimed a cross. The goal was controversial and the votes in my DM’s are evenly split between goalkeepers and strikers as to whether it was a foul or a fair goal, but the referee and assistant made the decision and the score was 2-2.
Pursey scored again in the second half to give Preston the lead. But two goals to Spring Hills substitute Suzu Murakami ensured a remarkable 4-3 win. It was an intriguing contest of contrasting styles. Preston’s kept the ball on the deck for most of the game and controlled possession in the first half, while Spring Hills had success on the counter attack.
There was a lot of class on the pitch, from the Spring Hills veteran Sinclair to former FV Academy defender Erika Di Tella in her first start since moving to Preston, while Lions midfielder Hollie Massie was industrious throughout and Natasha Dakic was typically strong under frenetic conditions in defence for Spring Hills. Tom Markovski will be happy with the win, and neutrals will be delighted with the viewing in the best game of the season so far.
Friday’s other game was also the community shield. Grand Final winners Box Hill faced off against South Melbourne, the 2025 Nike FC Cup holders.
South went into this game undefeated, but Box Hill were the form side. The only goal of the game arrived in the 42nd minute, and there was no surprise about where it came from. Erin Keyt added to her growing highlights reel with a brilliant finish to claim the first trophy of the season.
She has scored in every game since Round One, and the winning goal in two matches. Keyt now has seven goal in total and the NPLW Victoria Player of The Month Award.
Saturday saw Avondale account for Melbourne City 5-0. Hannah Wilkinson scored three goals against the club she represented in the A-League Women, while Sloane Young, Sidney Allan added the other two for the always dangerous Avondale.
The opening goal was one of the best. An end to end move that began with Isabella Accardo ended with a Cameron Barriero cross that Young was able to slot home. It was beauty in simplicity. Two passes and a finish, effectively three passes to go from defence to attack against a side that was stubbornly holding strong until then.
Wilkinson was outstanding in attack for Avondale, and used her experience and class to constantly catch the young City defence by surprise, while Asuka Miyata pulled the strings in midfield, standing up in the absence of Elise Kellond-Knight.
Alamein FC climbed to fourth on the ladder thanks to a 2-1 win over Bentleigh Greens. Candela Fereyra-Bas struck in the 19th minute, reward for her forward pressure, to give Bentleigh something to defend and they looked set for their first win of the season until Summer Laskey equalised in the 87th minute.
With the clock ticking into the eight minute of added time, a draw looked likely Neve Duston converted a the late penalty kick to steal the win off a dejected Bentleigh.
Essendon Royals travelled to the Veneto Club to face Bulleen. This is a matchup most neutral fans look forward to each season, with the two sides developing a quiet but intense on field rivalry over the last two seasons.
Traditionally, Essendon has enjoyed playing The Lions, but Bulleen has been in strong form of late and secured their third consecutive win.
Bulleen are known for their set pieces, and Olivia Bomford’s 16th minute corner found Tiffany Eliadis for a headed finish at the back post. Bomford soon had her second assist of the day in identical fashion. This time her corner kick was perfectly placed for Maja Markovski to nod into the net from close range.
Markovski’s second goal of the game provided Bulleen with an important third. Sarah Cain swept the ball long and wide for tricky winger Rosie Rodger. She teed up Markovski for her third brace in as many game.
As the second half progressed, Essendon began to gain the momentum, but could not convert that into dangerous chances to test Alyssa Dall Oste’.
Ava Groba eventually found a way through after Emma Langley played the winger in on goal. Her finish was perfectly placed, but the goal was only consolation as Bulleen held on for a 3-1 win.
Aya Sasaki scored a stunning goal as Heidelberg United and Boroondara Eagles played out a 2-2 draw at The Olympic Village. Samantha Curwood-Wagner played the ball back to Sasaki, who curled the ball high and over the well set-up Boroondara defenders. It was a deliberate effort, but she looked as surprised as she was jubilant at the result.
Boroondara are the league leaders for a reason though and had the game back on their terms almost instantly. Sarah Brunner got behind the Warriors defence to calmly finish in the 15th minute, then a corner kick was guided in by the high leap[ing Genevieve Fontes less than ten minutes later.
Boroondara looked set for yet another win, and for their perfect season to continue, but the famous Warriors spirit kicked in and Heidelberg found an equalizer. Curwood-Wagner rescued a point from the penalty spot in the 68th minute.
Heidelberg expect to win their home games, but this was an impressive performance especially in the absence of talismanic goalkeeper Mia Bailey. The result should give them confidence next week against Spring Hills FC.
Newley promoted Keilor Park SC found themselves 2-0 up in the first five minutes against Melbourne Victory’s U23’s. Victory were missing injured goalkeeper Chloe Mackenzie, and Runa Komidori spent not time testing her replacement, sending a vicious half volley past Christina Tsingelidis in the second minute of play.
Abbey Holmes made it 2-0 in the fourth minute. She got behind the Victory defence and clipped the ball over the goalkeeper.
Despite the nervy starts Tsingelidis recovered and performed well throughout the game. Victory’s task became harder when Sienna Techera was subbed out with a lower leg injury. Ella O’Grady, Fiorina Iaria and Leyla Hussein looked dangerous in attack, but Keilor did a good job denying Victory time and space in midfield.
Victory pulled one back in the second half. O’Grady converted a penalty kick in confident style. Then the home side thought they had a second, but to the chagrin of the home crowd, it was cancelled for offside.
It was a surprising, but hard-earned win by Keilor Park. They pressed and chased hard in midfield and managed to hold onto a lead for more than 90 minutes. Victory will be eager to respond to that loss but will have to do so against the reigning champions Box Hill United away from home.
In Appreciation of…Margaux Clarke
Five goals in five games including braces in the last two, The Spring Hills FC forward has hit the ground running in the Victorian NPLW.
Clarke’s two goals against the Preston Lions were similarly taken, powerfully hit efforts that left the goalkeeper with no chance despite the distance, and her headed effort against Bentleigh Greens in Round Four showed that she can be an aerial threat as well.
The Californian signed for Spring Hills after a U.S college career that took her to the University of Washington and New Mexico Lobo’s and a stint with Orust FC in Sweden. Tactically, she suits Spring Hills perfectly.
A tall, strong but very mobile forward, Clarke previous coaches praised her ability to hold up play with her back to goal, but Spring Hills have used her as a finisher. With Aleks Sinclair as an attacking partner, a supply of chances is virtually assured and Clarke’s has made the most of that with ruthless finishing.
She looks taller than most centre backs, is visibly faster and can use those famed hold-up attributes to turn into space and face goal. It seems a very difficult task to prevent her from shooting and her work rate means the threat is ever present.
Against Preston, Spring Hills looked to attack quickly, to counter the Lions impressive ball retention. A player like Clarke makes that sort of direct football not only possible but highly effective.
She is an outlet for the defense, a player who can occupy multiple markers and receive a long pass to relieve pressure. She can also score goals and press hard in attack, creating turnovers and causing hesitation. She creates fear, instills confidence and is a lot of fun to watch.
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