Our SMFC Under 14s girls travelled to Caroline Springs on the weekend to take on Spring Hills in a critical penultimate season fixture.
The girls hold top position on the ladder, two points clear of Pascoe Vale, who they have twice drawn with 2-2 this season. The team’s only loss was the opening round of the season and since then they have gone a total of 15 matches undefeated. It was a run they were hoping to continue against Spring Hills. They defeated the same opposition 5-3 at home back in June, however the girls-in-grey were sitting in 3rd place and playing away on a synthetic pitch meant that the match would be a challenge.
It was a physical encounter and the girls took a while to adjust to the pitch and the speed in the wet. Smooth passing was the aim of the game and in the first half the majority of play was in the midfield with neither team finding the advantage.
A chat from coach Mark Knauer at half-time found the girls playing with a little more structure in the second half, together with some more aggressive and attacking formations.
It took just two minutes before the scoreboard came into action for the first time. The first shot was on target but the Spring Hills keeper parried it away. It wasn’t enough however as Ella Nickolaus pounced and opened the scoring.
Ten minutes later the girls’ efforts would be rewarded yet again. A great run down the left lead to the ball being crossed in well. Elena Stefanos was on hand to fire the ball into the net and double the lead.
Goal scorer Elena Stefanos spoke to smfc.com.au after the match to share her thoughts. “We put up a good fight. It was tough but we got there in the end. We had some good through-balls and we have some things to work on to score some more goals. Kiara played really well for us and some of the older players were good too.”
A terrific result for the girls, with the 0-2 win keeping them firmly on the top of the ladder. They are still two points clear of Pascoe Vale and hold a +10 goal different over second place.
Both team will go in favourites in the final round of fixtures. Pascoe Vale take on fifth-placed Bundoora, whilst our girls host the fourth-placed Kensington at home next Sunday morning.