By Marc McGowan
CASEY Comets Soccer Club picked up its first point of the season with a 1-1draw against Heidelberg United in round three of the Women’s Premier League at Comets Stadium on Sunday.
The Comets suffered one-goal defeats in its opening two contests, but emerged defiant after the Easter break.
Heidelberg United had the better of the first 15 minutes before Casey kicked into gear courtesy of Leigh Terek, Alex Gummer and the youthful exuberance of 14-year-old striker Lisa Cloke up front.
The battle went to half-time as a goalless affair in the blustery conditions with neither goalkeeper forced to do too much work.
Heidelberg United, in particular its striker Sonia Romano, came out all guns blazing in the second half and repeatedly threatened Comets goalkeeper Emma Bracken.
Romano made a good solo run before being stopped by Lucy Kapusta, who had an outstanding match, and later had an unsuccessful shot on goal to create plenty of headaches for the Casey defence.
Sarah Groenswald also took a free kick just outside the box, but her shot sailed wide as Bracken breathed a sigh of relief.
Moments later, a long shot by Heidelberg United was just tipped out by Bracken before Romano swooped on the loose ball to put it in the back of the net.
Comets head coach Deborah Nichols responded by bringing teenager Marcie Algeria onto the pitch to replace Cloke.
It was just the spark Casey needed, and Algeria was a part of the Comets’ first impressive run through the midfield for the half that culminated in Terek taking a shot at goal and earning a corner.
Another thrilling charge up the field put the Comets at the goal mouth and they were finally rewarded when the referee gave them a penalty for United handball.
Sarah Fitzgerald calmly struck the ball into the bottom left corner for the equaliser and her second goal of the year.
The drama was not over as Heidelberg United desperately sought the three points, and Romano, who was in everything, was crunched in a physical tussle with Bracken as Jeni Black cleared the ball from the last line of defence.
The Heidelberg striker remained face down for several minutes and when play finally resumed neither side could break the shackles and the teams were forced to settle for a draw.
Nichols was relieved to finally get on the board, but felt her side had done enough to push for victory.
“I was very pleased with that. I thought over the whole game we did enough to pinch three points,” she said.
“It has been a steady improvement and it was a good result against one of the grand finalists from last year.”
Nichols said Fitzgerald’s second-half penalty was a just reward after a similar incident went unnoticed in the first 45 minutes.
“I felt we should have had a penalty in the first half for the same thing, but it was waved on,” she said.
Despite her team earning its first point, Nichols lamented the sloppy goal Casey gave up and believes her squad needs to record three wins from its next three encounters.
“We were caught napping. The shot was pushed onto the bar and the defenders were just watching it and didn’t follow it up,” she said.
“We need to win against the teams sniffing around us if we want to make the finals and nine points in the next three games is a hard ask, but we have to be aiming for that to kick start our season.”
The Comets’ reserves side also put in a much-improved performance, but its goal-scoring drought continued in a 2-0 loss.
Casey meets Keilor Park at Keilor Park Reserve on Sunday and the game should provide a good opportunity for the Comets to score their first maximum points.
The reserves start at 11am before the seniors kick off at 1pm.
