After being forced into a brief period of hibernation as Melbourne, again, ran COVID out of town, NPLW Victoria returned to action over this past weekend and, picking up right where it left off, it didn’t disappoint.
Fixtures were played behind closed doors as part of the restrictions surrounding the return of community sport, fans tuning in from home were treated to lots of goals, sharp play and a big, big upset across the round’s four games.
It was good to have it back.
Nevertheless, despite the overarching narrative surrounding the return to football being a positive one, it wasn’t exactly a happy return for Bayside United: the Southeast Melbourne side handed a 10-0 thrashing by top-of-the-table South Melbourne on Saturday afternoon.
Receiving a pass from speedster teammate Kat Goff, Melina Ayres rounded a defender before firing home for the game’s first goal in the 11th minute, before Natalie Martineau’s header back into the danger area from a Bayside goal kick enabled the 22-year-old to secure her brace in the 15th.
Meeting a corner lofted into the penalty area by Akeisha Sandhu, Matildas’ defender Jenna McCormick got her first goal in a South Melbourne shirt when she headed home in the 21st minute, with Ayres then grabbing her hattrick off a Lucy Johnson cutback a minute later.
Grace Norbury did flash a rare moment of danger from Bayside in the 32nd minute, but it was quickly answered up the other end by a long-range effort from Aimee Medwin to give South a 5-0 halftime lead.
Janna Lawson got into the action in the 53rd minute with a close-range finish, before Ayres netted her fourth and fifth of the game in the 58th and 68th minutes. Her five-goal haul means that the W-League Champion and Matildas Talent ID Camp participant has 10 goals from four games with Hellas and leads the NPLW Victoria Golden Boot race.
Fed by fellow second-half substitute Julia Budiongo, Caitlin Pickett made it nine in the 85th minute and Sandhu put the cherry on the sundae when she sent home a peach of a long-range effort in injury time to make it ten.
The result ensured that Hellas retains their three-point lead atop the NPLW Victoria table and moved their goal difference eight clear of next best FV Emerging. Bayside, conversely, remain still searching for their first win of the 2021 campaign.
Emerging, for their part, continued their strongest start to a campaign in their short existence on Sunday afternoon: downing Box Hill United 3-0 at Wembley Park.
And coach Helen Winterburn’s side wasn’t exactly in a mood to muck about, taking the lead in just the fourth minute of play when Caitlin Karic rose above a pack formed at the edge of the Box Hill six-yard-box to head home a corner.
Threading through one of the most perfectly weighted through balls you will ever see, Sarah Cain set teammate Jessica Young up with a one-on-one with Pythagoras keeper Erin Hudson and she made promptly made no mistake in sliding home her fifth goal of the campaign.
Pouncing on a ball loose in the penalty area after Holly Furphy did her bit to keep it alive, Karic then added her second in the 25th minute to give her side what proved to be an unassailable lead.
The result ensured that young Emerging remained second on the NPLW Victoria on goal difference come to the end of the round, while Box Hill remain rooted on just three points for the season.
Elsewhere, FC Bulleen Lions continued their red-hot run of form -- and closed to within two goals of Emerging -- by defeating Alamein FC 5-0 at a chilly Veneto Club on Monday evening.
Seeking to secure their sixth win on the bounce, coach Caitlin Friend’s Bulleen got off to the perfect start after Paige Zois collected a ball speared into the centre of the pitch by Tyla-Jay Vlajnic and, spotting Alamein keeper Beth Mason-Jones of her line, let loose with a long, long-range effort that sailed over her head and nestled in the back of the net.
Displaying a clear commitment to the principles instilled in them by coach Kat Smith, the young Alamein side weren’t overawed by looked to keep the ball on the turf, knock it about and maintain possession as the half wore on and were able to ask some questions.
Nonetheless, for all their promise, they went into the dressing room at the half down 2-0 when Kayla Morrison met a high, looping corner towards the back post and headed it across the face of the goal for Privitelli to nod home.
Privitelli then made it three for the hosts ten minutes into the second half when, getting to a loose ball before an on-rushing Mason-Jones, she looked up and chipped the retreating Alamein custodian from a highly acute angle. Racheal Quigley promptly made it 4-0 for Bullen when she was played through by Tiffany Eliadis and blasted home in the 67th minute.
Privitelli’s first goal having been so nice, the Lioness attacker seemingly decided to do it twice: this time picking the pocket of Mason-Jones on the right flank and dinking another sharply angled shot into the side netting to make it five.
Those three points earned by Friend’s side moved them into the third position on the NPLW Victoria table after Calder United were stunned by Heidelberg United on Saturday afternoon as, despite huffing and puffing and mounting all manner of threats on the Bergers’ goal, coach Mark Torcaso’s team somehow couldn’t find a way to batter down their foes house.
Her side boxing their foes in, MelindaJ Barbieri stung the gloves of Alexander custodian Melissa Maizels in the ninth minute of the game, before then putting a shot wide after being played through by Aleks Sinclair in the 28th minute.
But the hosts did have some threats of their own, and after Keely Lockhart tested Calder keeper Alyssa Dall'Oste from range in the 50th minute.
Nonetheless, Calder kept coming and should have taken the lead in the 61st minute when Harriet Withers flicked a ball around the corner and into the path of Sinclair open in space in the penalty area - only for the reigning Player’s Player of the Year to put her shot wide.
And the reigning NPLW Victoria champions were made to pay for their inability to convert ten minutes later when, in a bit of true individual brilliance, Bonnie Davies found some space on the corner of her foes area and launched a sublime chipped effort over the head of Dall'Oste.
Calder kept coming -- Withers hitting the bar in the 89th minute -- but couldn’t find a way to find a leveller: coach Jonathan Clemente’s side holding on for an unlikely, but much appreciated, win.
