Comets shoot up in triumph

By Marc McGowan
THE Casey Comets have shot into the top four of the Women’s Premier League with a 3-1 triumph over Sandringham under lights at Cheltenham on Monday night.
Casey lost its first four matches of 2008, but has two wins and a draw from its opening month this season as it seeks to end a two-year finals drought.
Talia Silivestros was the only goal-scorer on either side in the first half.
The Comets’ teenage striker slotted the opener when Sandringham’s goalkeeper could only get her fingertips on the ball as it lodged into the top of the net.
The game opened up dramatically in the second half as both teams produced plenty of chances.
But it was Casey that went further ahead when Alex Gummer’s left foot beat the keeper 15 minutes after resumption.
Sandringham managed to peg one back, but Gummer, who returned to the club in the off-season after a year with the National Training Centre, stepped in again. The talented youngster completed her brace with a powerful shot from outside the 18-yard box that went between the goalkeeper’s legs and sealed the result.
Gummer was the star of the show, but team-mates Natalie Mitchell, Lisa Cloke, Nicola Prins and Melissa Atherton were more than willing allies.
Stand-in coach Glen Bristow praised his players’ performance.
“It was end-to-end stuff and it was really competitive in the middle of the park and both teams had a lot of chances,” he said.
“But at the end of the day we took ours and our defence played really well and didn’t give them much.”
The Comets next face Geelong at the latter’s Howard Glover Reserve on Sunday from 3pm.
And Bristow left no doubt about his side’s intentions.
“We’re definitely going to Geelong to pick up another three points,” he said.
“They’re (Casey) playing really good football at the moment and their confidence is high.
“They don’t really worry about who they’re playing and are just focusing on their job and getting the three points.”