It was a huge weekend of NPL Victoria action for both Western United’s men’s teams and the women of Calder United as they took on Preston Lions and South Melbourne respectively.
Western United NPL 3 Men’s Under 21’s
Western United 5-1 Preston Lions
Goal scorers: G.Siamoa (5’, 67’, 86’), O.Lavale (27’), P.Lay (68’)
The weekend kicked off with Vaughan Coveny’s Under 21’s side taking on Preston Lions at City Vista Recreation Reserve, looking to return to winning ways after defeat against Melbourne Victory last week.
The Green and Black got off to the perfect start when Greg Siamoa was played through on goal and, although he saw is first attempt saved, the No.20 slotted the ball into the net inside five minutes.
United maintained the pressure and made it 2-0 before the break when Oli Lavale nudged home at the back post from a strongly whipped corner that had beaten everyone in the box.
There was plenty of fire in the contest as United spurned a late first-half penalty, but United asserted its dominance once again after the interval.
Siamoa added a second on 67 minutes after he had only just previously been denied by the offside flag before Peter Lay scored a minute later with his first touch off the bench.
While Preston pulled one back with 15 minutes to play, there was to be no stopping Siamoa notching up a hat trick as he bullied his way through Preston’s defence and tucked an 86th minute strike into the bottom corner to take his tally for the season to seven.
Western United NPL Senior Men’s
Western United 0-3 Preston Lions
Errors proved costly for a very young Western United Senior Men’s outfit as it fell to a second straight defeat, losing 3-0 to Preston as the rain began to fall on Friday night.
Where the Under 21’s were sharp out of the blocks, the Senior’s fell behind early as Christopher Davies lashed a shot into the roof of the net on eight minutes before a turnover in the box presented Connor Bell with an easy finish just four minutes later.
Preston were superior physically for much of the first half but United began to impose itself on the game, particularly after the break, and Jake Najdovski, Abel Walatee and Sabit Ngor were looking like creating a route back into the game for the hosts.
Anthony Frost’s men ultimately couldn’t make good on any of the chances they created and the game was wrapped up in the 82nd minute when another giveaway allowed Nuh Sehavdic to stream into the box and score past Mayen Mayen.
Calder United NPL Victoria Girls Under 19’s
Calder United 2-1 South Melbourne
Goal scorers: M.Yamasaki Davis (45+1), F.Iaria (89’)
There was late drama as Calder United’s Under 19’s side earned a vital win over South Melbourne in the context of its season so far.
Calder came into the clash level on points at the top of the league with South Melbourne in third place just one point behind, and the hosts found the breakthrough just before half-time when Minami Yamasaki Davis scored her first goal of the year.
South Melbourne managed to square the ledger in the second half and as the game reached the final minutes it seemed like the sides were destined to share the points.
That was until Fiorina Iaria stepped up once again for Calder United, the competition’s top goal scorer scoring her eighth goal in six games with an 89th minute strike to give her side a massive three points.
Calder United NPLW Senior’s
Calder United 5-0 South Melbourne
Goal scorers: A.Cerne (51’), R.Deralas (56’), N.Dakic (64’), B.Stojcevski (75’), A.Rossi (77’)
Calder United celebrated Female Football Week over the course of the weekend, and the Under 13 girls were given the chance to walk out onto the pitch with the senior women before enjoying a top performance by Mark Torcaso’s side.
In a rematch of the 2021 NIKE F.C. Cup Final, Calder was on top of South Melbourne from the outset but had to wait until after half-time for Alana Cerne to break the deadlock, as she stepped forward to intercept a pass and hit a thunderous strike into the net.
Raquel Deralas finished a sweeping team move five minutes later having only just come off the bench before a well-worked corner routine resulted in Natasha Dakic glancing a header beyond the South Melbourne goalkeeper for a third goal in less than 15 minutes.
There was more joy to be had from the bench with two more substitutes netting the final two goals of the game. Belinda Stojcevski scored with her first touch after coming on when she was on hand to bury a ball that was spilled into her path by the goalkeeper.
Alexis Rossi scored a goal on debut two minutes later after Stacey Papadopoulos went on a mazy run through the South Melbourne defence before putting it on a plate for Rossi to pass into an empty net, capping off a superb performance.
