THE Swan Hill women’s soccer team continued their recent good form with a hard fought 1-0 win at home over top-six side Strathfieldsaye Colts United FC on Sunday afternoon.
The win was the Swans’ first over a finals contender and a third victory from their past four matches, following wins over Epsom Stingers and La Trobe University.
It has been a remarkable turnaround after losing their first five matches of the season by a combined 36 goals, including a 7-1 loss to the Colts in round 2.
Swan Hill women’s captain Sarah Scott was in high spirits when speaking to The Guardian with the Swans just one point outside the top six, and well and truly in the finals race.
“It is perhaps the best win I’ve ever been apart of, to have such a strong performance against a genuinely good team and to get the result is just an absolute dream come true for us,” Scott said.
“It’s not even about the wins, it’s about how we’re playing as a group and working together that’s perhaps the most pleasing aspect of our game at the moment.
“There’s a great feeling among our playing group and I think that’s starting to reflect in our results, our passing, and ball control was about as good as I’ve seen it in my time involved with the team, and that’s a pretty good effort considering the windy conditions we had to deal with on Sunday.
“Our focus really has just been on getting the basics and fundamentals right and doing them well, simple things like pressuring our opposition, attacking the ball and working back in defence just as hard as we do in attack.
“They are all little things but you can’t play well without them.”
The breakthrough goal came from the boot of striker Malyna Tants in the 65th minute, her fourth goal of the season.
Centre backs Abbey Houlihan and Amity Scott were central to the win, however, the pair having been tasked with minding dangerous forward Zoe Cail, who threatened on several occasions to score an equaliser for Strathfieldsaye.
The return of goalkeeper Mardene de Villiers moved captain Sarah Scott into the defensive four, with Kimberley Patterson, Ruby Smith, Heidi Annand, Kayla Chrisp and Annabelle Fleming also strong contributors in the win.
The news wasn’t so good for Swan Hill’s youth boys’ and under-16 girls’ teams, with both sides suffering heavy losses to the top teams in their divisions.
The undermanned youth boys found the going difficult against La Trobe University SC, falling to their heaviest defeat of the season 11-0 on the road.
Swan Hill had no answer for Elliot Forsyth, who kicked five goals for La Trobe, and now prepare to host Strathdale SC at the Ken Harrison Reserve in a fortnight’s time.
The under-16 girls’ side faired marginally better succumbing to a 10-1 loss to Spring Gully Renegades at the Ken Harrison Reserve on Saturday.
Maddi Muir-Howie produced the Swans’ only goal for the match in the second half, the midfielder going on a strong solo run to score and highlight a strong individual performance.
The Swans will face Spring Gully Warriors in their next match following this weekend’s league-wide bye, with a win in that match likely to lock away a top-four spot and give Swan Hill’s under-16 girls a first finals berth since the team’s inception last season.
Both the senior men’s and under-16 boys’ BASL sides both registered wins after their opponents Border Raiders and Spring Gully Red, respectively, forfeited games prior to Friday evening.
