A tournament to remember for NTC Victoria girls

Stockies Scribbles is back reporting from the Capital of Australia following the Victorian National Training Centre (NTC) Girls Team as they challenge the very best female youth that Australia has to offer. The Victorian NTC girls are competing at the National Institute Challenge in Canberra this week. The Tournament kicked-off on Tuesday August 21 and finishes on Saturday, August 25 to showcase the very best female football players and to select the Australian National Team. FFA Coaches and scouts are diligently looking over the talent on display as Australia looks to further bolster its depth.

Game 5

NTC FFV 4-0 NTC South Australia (Phoebe Parker 12’ Own Goal 15’ Jacqui Vogt 61’ Steph Catley 66’)

In stark contrast to the continual rain of the last two days, Saturday morning was crisp (five degrees) and started with the sun shining brightly across pitch one at the AIS facilities.

Upon closer inspection, the water had not subsided at all and the ground was very heavy underfoot especially at either end of the pitch putting extra pressure on the keepers and defenders not to make mistakes.

There was an air of confidence surrounding the Victorian girls as they warmed up pre-game and the most evident sound of the morning was the sloshing of boots and thud of the ball as it skidded across the damp surface.

Coach Darren Tan was vocal as always instructing the girls to concentrate with the occasional "gooooooooood" and "start agaaaaaaaain" vernacular echoing across the ground. Smiles were evident all round as the Victorians knew a solid win today will secure the Silver Medal and post this tournament as a resounding success for the Victorian NTC girls squad.

With pleasantries over in the middle, both teams took their positions to battle it out for southern supremacy. The Victorians had Cassie Dimovski protecting the goal along with Alex Natoli, Jacqui Vogt, Alex Cheal and Bella Scott across the backline.

In the midfield was the consistent Cindy lay, Jessica Au and Steph Magro while up front Coach Tan went with Elaina Vatcky, Phoebe Parker and the elusive Tiff Eliadis to create trouble for South Australia.

The game began with a number of nervous mistakes from both sides before the girls began to settle and concentrate on the task at hand. Phoebe Parker had the first opportunity to score running down the left wing only to have the keeper sweep up the shot.

The South Australian girls were not holding back and played a very physical game using their bodies very strongly and tackling hard. The referee was watching closely as the pushing and holding resulted in a number of free kicks across the ground.

Twelve minutes in saw a good passage of play started by Alex Natoli down back which resulted in the ball finding its way to Cindy Lay who passed to Tiff Elaidis and with a deft one touch pass found Phoebe Parker out wide and the resultant crack at goal avoided the keeper and crashed into the net – bottom left hand corner.

The crowd erupted and the Victorians deserved this goal – the outcome from one of the tournaments best passages of one touch passing and fast, direct play.

Play resumed and three minutes later another forward thrust by Victoria saw the ball under the spell of Tiff Eliadis again and as she ducked and weaved her way through traffic, she was able to centre the ball to the middle of the box only to see a deflection from a South Australian defender force the ball into the net and an own-goal resulted.

This fired the crow-eaters up and very soon they were pushing forward and hassling the Victorian defence. Alex Natoli was having a cracking game down back and with two opponents free and forging towards goal, Alex waited before stepping in and stripping the ball from both of them to deny any further passage on goal.

There was some really solid work right across the ground with Jacqui Vogt, Cindy Lay, Phoebe Parker and Alex Cheal all stepping up in the tough conditions. Bella Scott and Steph Magro were having a field day around the wings and Tiff Eliadis and Elaina Vatcky continued to run hard and create opportunities up front.

It was not long before a desperate attempt on goal by South Australia was again thwarted by Cassie Dimovski which drew a humorous response from the bench. The girls broke out in song with a tune somewhat like "Cassie, Cassie, Cassie we love you" and I am sure Cassie enjoyed the attention from the sidelines. The whistle sounded and the Victorians were poised for victory with a two nil lead at the break.

The second half saw the emergence of Captain Steph Catley and Kate Leder from the bench to again apply pressure on the opposition. Both girls added that extra zest to the forward and back line with Steph Catley using her pace to open up the forward line with her trademark runs down the left wing.

At the fifty minute mark, Dani Gudelj and Tayla Mure made their entry to the game up forward and both were potent with several setups and attempts on goal denied by the South Australian defence. Last but not least, the youngster Maddie Stockdale was brought into midfield for a run towards the end of the game after doing some great work in the backline all week and really stamping her presence in defence during the tournament.

At the 66th minute mark, a free kick was awarded to Jacqui Vogt in the middle of the pitch and you could see she was ready to take a shot from the halfway line. She loaded the gun and fired the kick like a bullet which ricocheted off the keepers hands and across the line for an amazing goal. 3-0 at this point and the girls were all smiles knowing the job was nearly complete.

With minutes remaining and the game well and truly in safe keeping for the Victorians, Steph Catley performed some of her magic. Streaking down the left wing on a pass from defence, Catley took on two defenders and the keeper; sidestepping them all and finishing with a class left foot poke. What a way to finish the tournament and one that all the Victorian girls will remember.

Congratulations to all the Victorian girls who performed admirably in front of the National coaches and selectors. I have no doubt Tom Sermanni and his team were watching and you were all noticed. Many will not be aware of the tremendous sacrifices these girls make week in and week out, training five days a week with a game thrown in on a Tuesday night against the U15 boys.

Thanks to the Victorian support team headed by Les Bees, official NTC Coach Vicki Linton, Tournament Coach Darren Tan, Team Manager Jane Natoli, Tournament Team Manager Sasky Stewart and the all important physiotherapist Adam White and sports scientist Rachelle Borg. The girls appreciate all of your support in keeping them physically and emotionally intact during the tournament and throughout the year. Finally to all the parents who continually support their girls, the smile on a girls face when they hug a parent after a game is priceless and the girls are all aware of the wonderful support you all provide.

And so the NTC National Institute Challenge comes to an end with the Victorian NTC girls team finishing with a silver medal in arguably one of the best performances for a Victorian NTC girls team.

Many will now head off to play in the Westfield W-League for Melbourne Victory Women or back to the Victorian Champions League to re-apply for NTC in 2013. Several have National Team duties across different age groups but regardless of where they are, they will all remember the 2012 NTC National Institute Challenge and the friendships that were born.

Stockies Scribbles signing off from Canberra until next time.

For all the updates on The Football Sack's own version of the Mighty Ducks, check out the range of Craig Stockdale's articles right here.