By Peter Stephenson
A mild Friday night at Esther Park saw Barkerettes (third) take on Manningham United (fourth), in a game Barkers needed to win to have any chance of catching Clifton Hill for second spot. Encouragingly, Barkers had a full bench to choose from, but Manningham were in form, having won four of their last five without conceding a goal.
Barkers went at Manningham from the off and a high ball in from the left in the second minute saw the United keeper clash with Amy D’Ortenzio, with the Barkers forward coming off second best in the physical challenge. Five minutes later came Barkers’ first threat when Hannah Lee put a ball through the middle for D’Ortenzio, who shot at the keeper.
Now United began to knock the ball around nicely and on 16 minutes Barkers misjudged a bounce in midfield, leading to a United long shot which went high and wide. United regained possession from the Barkers’ goal-kick and another long shot bounced awkwardly, forcing Fraraccio to parry the ball wide.
The next chance fell to Lisa Walsh on 23 minutes. Her throw-in was cleared back to her, and she drilled a shot to United’s near post, but the keeper saved. Then United broke upfield and an acute shot through a crowd of players in the penalty box saw Fraraccio save at the second attempt.
United put Barkers under siege, forcing a number of corners, before Zahra Goodman brought the ball clear for Barkers. She found Walsh, but again the shot was well covered by the United keeper. Half-time 0-0, with Manningham looking the more threatening as the half progressed.
The second half saw Barkers finally wake up, and in particular the lethal dual strike force of D’Ortenzio and Walsh were linking up well. In the first minute, Walsh found D’Ortenzio and her swift shot was well watched by the keeper.
United, however, caused a scare a few minutes later when a corner from the right saw Anjali Lobo head the ball back across goal, but Fraraccio was alert to the danger and gathered. Then, in a precursor of what was to come just before the end of the game a United ball in from the left saw Abbey Collins give her defender the slip before shooting at Fraraccio. Another chance came immediately as Tea Tsagarakis was allowed to almost walk through the Barkers defence, but again her shot was too straight with the goal at her mercy.
Back came Barkers with a superb build-up from left-back, which found Gracie Touliatos in midfield, who went on a glorious solo run before a tame shot. However, Barkers smelt blood, and straight after this, a pass put D’Ortenzio in on goal. Her first shot was beaten away but she outmuscled her marker and her second bite of the cherry found the net for the opening goal – 1-0 Barkers.
Barkers then tried to press home the advantage, but with only 10 minutes left, Tamika Jose broke down the left for United and passed inside to find Collins unmarked. As Fraraccio rushed out Collins slipped the ball past her and raced on to put the ball into an empty net. Thus Fraraccio’s record Barkerette shutout ended at seven hours 27 minutes. Final score 1-1.
For large periods of this game Barkers were not at their best, and yet having gone ahead, might feel aggrieved at dropping points. However, Manningham passed the ball around nicely and deserved a point at least. For Barkers, too many balls went astray, but there was much to be pleased about. The youngsters’ enthusiasm fairly thrilled the juniors in the crowd, but the standout for was Lobo. She seemed to pop up everywhere to save Barkers on numerous occasions.
We now need a minor miracle to catch Clifton Hill – those draws have proven costly and only two games remain. Next is a rare Monday night outing at Fitzroy.
