By Marc McGowan
CASEY Comets Soccer Club is firing on all cylinders ahead of its first match of the 2007 Women’s Premier League season on 25 March.
The Comets triumphed over major adversary Box Hill in a thrilling penalty shoot-out at Darebin International Sports Centre in Thornbury this month to become the inaugural pre-season champions.
The match was squared up at a goal apiece before both sides missed their opening two attempts in the shootout.
Cool heads prevailed from then on before Box Hill player Amanda Lawless’ shot sailed over the bar to hand Casey the title.
The Comets had earlier advanced from their qualifying group before beating Eltham North 1-0 in their semi-final.
In further good news for the club, Casey Council is set to announce it will sponsor the club to the tune of $5000 this season.
The council will also release the first $50,000 instalment of the $250,000 already allocated to Casey for upgrades to its ground, as requested by Football Federation Victoria.
Comets head coach Deborah Nichols, who scored the final goal for Casey in the shootout, was pleasantly surprised by the victory after an interrupted lead-up.
“I think it was a bit of a surprise – we were not expecting to do that well,” she said.
“Our aim was just to get through the qualifying rounds.
“There has been a lack of training facilities with the drought, so we got the opportunity to play on the artificial surface at Darebin.”
Nichols highlighted the rivalry between the Comets and Box Hill, but conceded the win would mean little once the season began.
“Everyone knows the long history when we play each other. We’ve had quite a few decided on penalty shootouts and it’s always a close encounter,” she said.
“It will count for nothing when the season goes on. They weren’t at full-strength; we weren’t at full-strength, but it has given us confidence.”
It will hopefully be the start of a successful year for Casey after the then Cranbourne Comets finished fourth last season – the club’s lowest finish in a decade – and missed out on the all-important double chance in the finals offered to the top three sides.
The Comets will also be eager to atone for grand final defeats in 2004 and 2005 and re-establish themselves as one of the best teams in Victoria.
“Not getting the double chance killed us last year. It really highlighted how important third upwards is,” Nichols said.
“We’re hoping to do better than we did last year. Fingers crossed, we don’t get the injury run we had last year – we had a horrendous injury run.”
She is looking to the younger players in her veteran-laden squad and named Lisa Cloke, Marcie Algeria, Anna Carmichael and Vanessa Hellar as four for which she had high hopes.
“The rest of the team is an established group with 10 years’ plus experience, so we’re looking at the younger ones to step up. Hopefully those kids can show what they can do,” Nichols said.
“We have an under-15 team this year and are hoping to have an under-18 side.
“The plan is to get some home-grown talent and get the kids that live locally into the side.”
Nichols is expecting Casey’s stiffest competition to come from Box Hill, Heidelberg and Ashburton, and believes opening round combatant Eltham North could be the wildcard.
The Comets’ first match of the season starts at 11am on 25 March at Comets Stadium, in O’Tooles Road, Cranbourne.
