Fighting from the Yellow Corner – and the winner is?

Contrary to all the hype surrounding the Victorian Women’s Premier League this year, on a cold winters Tuesday night under lights in a remote area of the northern suburbs, a team of highly skilled, warrior-like females are plying their craft against the opposite sex in a bout that many feel is unwinnable. Who said?

Words and images By Craig Stockdale

Bystanders from the opposing team are curious as to who these band of females are, can they even stand up to the pressure and why would they even pit themselves against a superior DNA that delivers greater speed, faster twitch fibers and more testosterone than the opposite sex could cumulatively fathom.

“Ladieeeees and gentlemeeeeen, wearing the blue shorts and fighting from the yellow corner, this unit hails from the many varied suburbs of Melbourne, weighing in at less pounds than their competition, a much better looking package and with an impressive start to the season of three fights; one win, one draw and one loss. Coached by the smiling assassin of the FFV, pleeeeease welcome to the arena the princesses of the pitch, the warriors of all women, yes the mighty NTC Women of Victoria.”

As the referee approaches the competitors to flip the coin, the Moreland “Maulers” U15A boys seem tentative, a little perplexed at the fact they are playing against an unknown rival but with a spring in their step awaiting the sound of the whistle to start Round One of this much anticipated encounter.

With a defense that any fighter would find impenetrable, Brianna “Breezer” Davey is marshalling the goal mouth and is ably supported by the awesome foursome; Bella Scott, Alex Natoli, Maddie Stockdale and The Football Sack's Stephanie Catley – a defensive line any coach would dream of. Protecting the midsection from any upper-cuts are the audacious and rambunctious Cindy Lay, Zoe Stamatopolous and Kate Fatopoulos and providing the left and right jabs for a possible TKO are the flamboyant and feisty Dani Gudelj, Edita Mackaj and Pheobe Parker.

The pace is frenetic as the competitors size each other up early in the competition. Defensively, NTC are very strong and protect the many advances made by Moreland. Maintaining possession and dancing around the ring, the NTC advance forward from defense and with bullet like passing, land the ball at the feet of a very talented Matildas player who in turn cracks a left foot missile onto the cross bar that denies NTC first blood. The match is physical to start but the rivals are respectful of the contest and each other with the match of a very high caliber – some great skills on display here across the entire pitch by both sexes.

Minutes later, Moreland counter punch and through a break in the mid section, size up an opening and with the aid of the gale force wind that now prevails, nail a floating 55 footer over the head of the NTC keeper and into the left hand corner of the net.

Stunned, the NTC get back up from the canvass and gain back the ascendancy in possession, advancing through the midfield and distributing out to the wings where the ‘Black Caviar’ of women’s football, Steph Catley, dances around the competition and once again eludes the opposition’s defensive line to bury a 40 foot arrow over the outstretched hands of the Moreland keeper to even up the points of the match. 1-1 and what a fight!

The style of play is fast and furious and yet Moreland remain calm, waiting for their opportunity to pounce once again. A bold and certainly opportunistic shot was taken from the left wing by a Moreland midfielder that caught the NTC napping and once again restored the ascendancy to the male dominated opponent – score line at the end of Round One was Moreland 2 - NTC Womens 1.

No-one was privy to the discussion in the yellow corner pending the start of Round Two, but whatever was said NTC came out determined to square the ledger and advance at every given opportunity to take the fight up to their opponent. Coming on from the bench, Kat Bellesis, Lucy Kennedy and Kat Smith all provided fresh legs for NTC to exploit as they searched and probed for an opening. Battered and bruised, NTC step forward to punish the opposition and deny any forward advances.

Good possession football, skillful evasions and a very gutsy determination saw the NTC push their opponent further into the corner and through a smart passage of play, the aggressive nature of Cindy Lay produced the result all were waiting for. A right foot bullet that ‘flew like a butterfly and stung like a bee’ evaded a perplexed Moreland Keeper to square the match to the much delighted die-hard parents freezing to death on the sidelines.

With the result now determined, the referee held both arms of each opponent aloft to announce the match a draw – a fitting end to an event that held spectators speechless for the majority of the evening.

The next fight will again be a worthwhile bout and I suggest if you are interested in seeing some of the best female skills on display against a high quality opposition, you get yourself down to the Darebin International Sports Centre on a Tuesday night for a 7pm kick off and support the NTC Women’s outfit.

And the Winner is?

Football in Victoria.

Stocky's Scribbles has returned in style to bring updates on Football Federation Victoria's NTC Women's team as they battle the boys in the rough Melbourne winter. Featuring Westfield W-League players and the upcoming stars of the future, the NTC is the pathway for girls in Victoria.