Our City girls have sprung back to life with a hard-fought win in tough conditions in Adelaide, scoring three world-class goals in the meantime.
In the opening moments of the game, the girls played some positive football leading to an almost perfect chance, with Bryleeh Henry putting the ball just too far ahead of Hannah Wilkinson in the box.
Adelaide might have been unlucky not to have been ahead at the half-time break, having enjoyed the better of the attacking chances.
As the second half began, it was all City as our girls broke forward with intent. Rhianna Pollicina pulled off a perfectly weighted pass for eventual player of the match Bryleeh Henry, who passed the ball across the six-yard box for young gun Daniela Galic who scored her second of the season.
The rest of the match descended into a series of hurried attacking moves as the players continued in the South Australian heat, with both sides having some half-chances. All of a sudden, the game burst to life again in stoppage time when Leticia McKenna's deflected free-kick found the back of the net and youngster Caitlin Karic scored a curling belter to seal the deal.
With worldies, young guns, and a great team performance in mind, here are three things we learned:
Daniela Galic: Not only one for the future
Okay, seriously. Every time I see this young gun play, I am in awe.
Galic performs well beyond her years with maturity and a knack for directing the team in a positive way, no matter if she is found in attack or defence. Galic did not look out of place in tough conditions against a physical opposition, often taking her turns expertly before finding the right pass.
Her performance did not go unnoticed by the footballing gods as the ball found her in a fantastic position which guaranteed the first goal of the match, marking her second of the season. Impressively, Galic has shown an ability to put the ball in the back of the net from inside and outside of the box so far this season.
If we can hold onto the imposing youngster, there is no telling where her immense ability can take us in future seasons. She is already the first name on the team sheet for me.
A much-needed clean sheet
After the surprising result of last weekend, Dario Vidosic will be stoked with this performance. Not only a solid win away from home, but also keeping a clean sheet against an Adelaide team who are crying out for a goal. It absolutely could have been a different story if Adelaide had brought their shooting boots, but this result will boost the confidence of the players, and rightfully so.
There is so much to like about this squad, especially when it comes down to the toughness that a game can demand. Despite making a few mistakes in the back, Kaitlyn Torpey was always first to chase down a charging attacker and even throw herself into the way of danger for the good of the team.
Emma Checker and Katie Bowen were rock solid in their centre-back partnership, with the latter making an unbelievable sliding challenge to steal the ball away from Chelsie Dawber who was looking to immediately get Adelaide back on level terms after the first goal.
It goes without saying that improvements could be made to prevent so many chances, but the girls have passion and will do anything for the win.
Touching distance remains
Anything but maximum points here would have spelled disaster, but fortunately down to the grit of our playing squad - and whatever Dario Vidosic said at half-time – we remain in touching distance of title-hopefuls Western United who are on fire in their first season.
Despite Western winning 100% of their fixtures so far, we only sit three points behind, although they do have a single game in hand. It only takes a couple of speed bumps in the road to knock a team off-course, and our City girls need to stay hot on their heels, ready for that moment.
A win in the Derby come Sunday afternoon (rescheduled due to a scorching weather forecast) will boost our chances in keeping up with the West Melbourne outfit, and hopefully put some distance between ourselves and others in the chasing pack.
Congratulations on a massive win girls, let’s finish the week with a bang. Onto the Derby.
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