‘Ugly’ but it’s still a win

By Marc McGowan
A LUCKY own goal stretched the Casey Comets’ Women’s Premier League winning streak to four at the expense of Sandringham on Sunday.
The 1-0 success came in gusty conditions at Comets Stadium and coach Debbie Nichols was thrilled to escape from what was a tight contest after two weeks off.
The goal occurred 12 minutes into the second half when Sandringham defender Hannah Whittaker attempted to repel Casey veteran Jeni Black’s pass to striker Talia Silivestros in the 18-yard box.
But Whittaker only succeeded in deflecting the ball into the top right corner of the net.
Silivestros almost doubled the Comets’ advantage moments later, but her header from a Nicola Prins corner kick just cleared the top of the net.
Both sides had chances to add to the scoreline, but there were no further strikes as Casey backed up its 3-1 away triumph over Sandringham from round four.
Former Comets players Leigh Terek and Lucy Kapusta were among the disappointed visitors.
Casey goalkeeper Emma Bracken was arguably the difference between the teams with a supreme display.
Bracken saved the Comets on numerous occasions in the second half, particularly as Sandringham pressed for the equaliser in the final half hour.
Nichols brought substitutes Lana Bonnet and Medina Asanovski on for Silivestros and a tiring Marcie Algeria in the frantic final minutes.
Genia Avram and Emma Runnalls were constant thorns in the side of Casey, but Comets defenders Vanessa Hellar, Laura Croft and Natalie Mitchell worked hard to thwart them.
Nichols was also full of praise for skilful midfielder Algeria, while the Premier League’s second-leading scorer Nicola Prins recovered from a quiet start to almost add to Casey’s tally in the second half.
Nichols is looking forward to her third-placed team’s final five matches after the latest victory moved it within one win of top spot.
“We don’t always get the luck and sometimes you have to win ugly and I thought we won ugly today, but I would have taken 1-0 at the start of the day,” she said.
“They were only a point behind us going into the game and it’s gone really tight again at the top of the league.
“We knew it was really important to win today, just to get that little push away from those guys who are chasing us.”
The Comets were scheduled to face Bendigo in a catch-up fixture last night (Wednesday), but the game will now be played on Sunday, 9 August at 2.45pm at Epsom Huntly Reserve.
Casey hosts bottom side Geelong at Comets Stadium at 1pm this Sunday.