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Words and images By Craig Stockdale
Once again, Darebin produced those wonderful football conditions for the night in question – “freezing cold and blowing a gale” that saw spectators dressed like the Michelin Man to avoid the onslaught.
Regardless, the same committed faces and steadfast supporters were on hand to brave the weather and witness another fine display of talent from the FFV’s crème de la crème of developing female players.
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| NTC and Melbourne Victory Womens coach, Dave Edmondson |
An integral part of the FFV’s NTC development and learning program is not only the style of play deployed but the opportunity to learn and play with more experienced players; the calibre from W-League as exhibited by Davey, Catley, Koca, Lay, Natoli and Eliadis.
Victory is the journey the NTC Girls undertak;- the preparation, mental, physical and emotional learnings from each encounter and not the end result every week.
Having said that, most teams undoubtedly like to win and the NTC Girls are no exception to the rule being competitive by nature. Expectations from the coaching staff, players and spectators are that they put up a solid performance with the inclusions of the experience in the midfield and all players would be better for the experience. Of course, Edmondson also gets to see some of his Melbourne Victory candidates strut their stuff before the next season begins.
The whistle sees Pascoe Vale have possession and the boys advance quickly deep into the defensive line of NTC. Brianna Davey is protecting the goal mouth while centre backs Alex Natoli and Maddie Stockdale are flanked by Steph Catley and Lucy Kennedy - assembling as the “Berlin Wall” to repel any dissident Pascoe Vale players from entering.
It has been referenced that the centre backs and two holding midfielders are pivotal to the foundation of a team’s structure in the modern form of the game and this would be tested here at Darebin tonight.
Several of the early forward penetrations are repelled by the NTC defensive line who counter-attack up the wings through the raw talent of Bella Scott, Beattie Goad and Zoe Stamatopoulos. Meanwhile the engine room is on fire as Gulcan Koca, Tiffany Eliadis and Cindy Lay exude class and vision that precedes their tenure in the world game.
Their fitness, silky skills and confidence on the ball open up many a play through the midfield. “Hey - not bad talent for girls” was broadcasted from the sidelines midway through the contest.
Catley, Scott and Goad were creating mayhem up front dancing around the opposition and threading the ball to Stamatopoulos and Eliadis who were looking for space to launch at goal. NTC Girls were flexing their muscles drawing a number of early corner kicks and shots on goal only to have them all thwarted by the Pascoe Vale defense. It should be noted that the Pascoe Vale boys were playing the game in a very respectful and positive manner contrary to the reception the NTC Girls were given last week by Lalor.
With the majority of possession controlled by the NTC Girls in the first half, it took one explosive run from a Pascoe Vale forward to evade the NTC defensive line and pop a shot over the advancing head of Davey for the first score of the match to be registered: 1-0 to Pascoe Vale.
Before the NTC Girls could even take a breath, the boys pressed forward applying pressure to the NTC defense and were again able to weave through traffic and score for a second time within two minutes of play: score now 2-0.
Whatever food the boys from Pascoe Vale were consuming, it showed in their physical size and stature yet the irony of the match came when a rampaging six foot plus Pascoe Vale lad streamed up the right wing to be confronted by a five feet nothing NTC lass (who had eyes only for the ball it should be noted) and with that focus, stopped the lad dead in his tracks, stealing the ball and leaving the lad looking like a train wreck on the pitch.
After the half time break, Edmondson substituted Catley (soreness) for the addition of youngster Alyssia Blewonski as a winger and switched Eliadis up forward with Stamatopoulos back into the midfield. The intentions were clear that NTC girls were to take this challenge up to the Pascoe Vale boys and they needed to outscore them this half.
With Gulcan Koca having the ball on a string in midfield, the girls again had the majority of possession in the second half and it was through relentless running and precise passing that saw a Stamatopoulos/Koca/Lay midfield push setup Tiffany Eliadis in the forward box. Eliadis then proceeded to side step into space and with time, crack home a blistering right foot shot over the keeper that sails into the top right hand corner of the net: NTC Girls are on the board but trailing 2-1.
Several late changes saw the addition of another youngster Marianna Anthony into defense and the more experienced Kat Smith as a forward with Edmondson looking for fresh legs to seek out that elusive equaliser.
With the clock counting down the NTC Girls battled hard defending strongly and creating many opportunities through the midfield but all to no avail.
The final whistle sounded on a second half that saw NTC Girls clearly outplaying the Pascoe Vale boys but running second on the scoreboard as quite often happens in football.
Well played by both teams in great spirit and fair play… Smiles all round really!