Comets make it six straight

By Gavin Staindl
WITH a 3-0 demolition of Bundoora on Sunday, the Casey Comets recorded their sixth straight win, but the scary thing, at least for other teams, is that they will get better.
Jessica Curl, Sam Axtman and Abbey Dawber will this week join a side which in the last six matches, has scored 19 goals and conceded only three.
Curl and Axtman arrived from the college system in Colorado, America and could play as early as this week, while Dawber, who touched down from England yesterday, will also be available for selection for Sunday’s match.
The potential inclusion of the highly experienced players has been welcomed by the Comets, who face their toughest test of the season when they travel to Heidelberg on Sunday.
Heidelberg has been the only team to have conquered the Comets this season, and they did it in emphatic fashion, winning 3-1 on the Comets’ home turf in round two.
Since that match, Casey has rattled off six straight wins, including another typically dominant performance on Sunday.
The Comets took a 1-0 lead over Bundoora when Mel Atherton streaked through the box and tucked home the opener.
Taryn Brown bobbed up for the Comets’ second goal 15 minutes later – and by half-time the Comets were cruising.
Despite missing main striker Nicola Prins to a virus, the Comets continued to surge forward through Danielle Lawrence.
Not content with defending a 2-0 lead, step-in coach Annick Amadee-Paul replaced Lawrence with Christine Duffey in the 77th minute, and before long, Duffey had left her print on the game.
The petite forward latched onto a pass and wiggled her way into the box before drawing the contact for a well-deserved penalty.
Atherton stepped up to the spot and sealed the match with a simple conversion.
Coach Ian Williamson, who was serving the first of his two-match ban on the sidelines, says his team is good but is only going to get better.
“We started a lot more aggressively in this game and the midfielders worked extremely hard,” Williamson said.
“I can’t ask any more of the girls, we discussed in detail how important it is for all 16 girls to be right to go and they were.
“We’ve just signed three more girls.
“We’re getting better quality girls, which means better standards for our young players and they bring with them differ-ent ideas and philosophies, as well as experience from the college and academy levels.
“We have also got Alex Gummer returning in three or four weeks, after she had her knee cleaned out.”
While exciting times lay ahead for the Comets, Williamson is approaching the next three weeks with a finals-like mindset.
“The three week phase where we play Heidelberg, Box Hill and South Melb-ourne are what the finals will be like,” he said.
“We are already six points clear of the team in fourth place, but I want the girls to feel the pressure of the next three weeks, starting with Heidelberg on Sunday.”