Victoria's Girls National Youth Championship campaign got underway at BCU International Stadium yesterday.
In wet conditions, the under 15's and the under 17's faced arguably their toughest test in their first match, with both teams acquitting themselves well despite going down by a goal.
Both matches were played under the watchful eye of Westfield Matildas coach, Tom Sermanni.
Under 15’s - Victoria 1 - 2 South Australia
Goal Scorer: Kariah White
After conceding a goal in the first two minutes, the Victorians went on to control most of the match, having a greater percentage of shots on goal in what was an extremely positive first performance against a well-disciplined South Australian outfit.
After the nervous start, the girls showed great composure and maturity to go on and create several clear cut chances. The breakthrough eventually came with five minutes remaining in the second half when Ebru Hasan weaved her way through several South Australian players before laying it off to Kariah White to finish the move and equalise for Victoria.
However, with only two minutes left on the clock South Australia benefited from a misplaced clearance directed into the Victorian net to claim all three points and opening day honours.
Australian under 13 representative, Julia Sardo, as well as Claudia Fruscalzo and Candella Ferrerya-Bas, had particularly good games in what was a good team performance.
Coach Michael McBride was happy with the team’s first game.
“The girls have adapted to our possession style of play and I was proud to see them play with no fear.”
Assistant Coach Bill Mihaloudis added: “I was extremely proud to see how well the girls played in their first up performance of the tournament.”
Under 17’s - Victoria 0 -1 NSW Country
The under 17’s suffered an unlucky loss In their first match of the tournament against traditional rivals New South Wales (NSW).
Victoria started slowly allowing NSW to get on top early, but they gradually worked their way back into the match. A mixture of quality passing, movement, and better ball distribution, helped Victoria turn the tables and start to dominate the team from north of the border.
Unfortunately, the possession numbers and quality of passing did not occur as frequently in the final third as Victoria struggled to create many clear goal scoring opportunities. As with the under 15’s, the goal conceded was tough luck as a clearance rebounded off an opposition attacker’s foot, and in past Cassandra Dimovski in the Victorian goal. Defender Laura Croft had a particularly good match at the back, as well as midfield pairing Hannah Stuart and Renee Zebic.
Assistant Coach Annick Amedee-Paul was upbeat after the match.
“Although we’re slightly disappointed at the result of the match, we were pleased with the way we dominated the second half.”
With a shortened tournament, day two sees both the under 15’s and under 17’s play two matches each, against Capital Football and Northern Territory.
Day two fixtures
Under 15’s
8:30am - Victoria v Capital Football
2:30pm - Victoria v Northern Territory
Under 17’s
10:00am - Victoria v Capital Football
4:00pm - Victoria v Northern Territory
- Liam Bentley in Coffs Harbour
Last updated: Wednesday July 7, 2010 8:58AM
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