By Peter Stephenson
A glorious spring day at the Kennel saw the Barkerettes (third) host Baxter (fifth) on the final day. A win for Barkers plus a draw or win for Aspendale (fourth) against Endeavour United (second) would see Barkers in a promotion play-off. Anjali Lobo, who had been out for most of the season, and Jordyn Clausen, also injured recently, were on a bench of the walking wounded.
Given that when we played at Baxter Park, Baxter looked incapable of scoring, it came as something of a surprise that Barkers found themselves a goal down early on. On five minutes, they gave the ball away on halfway, Baxter broke and found Lucy Clapham in space, and she hit a low shot into the corner of the net for 1-0 Baxter. Five minutes later, they attacked again and shot wide.
After a surprising first 15 minutes where Barkers made Baxter look good, the home side started actually playing. Courtney Wipperfurth raced clear to be in on goal but keeper Nadia Karaan blocked the shot. The ball was cleared out to Lisa Walsh, who hit a rasping shot against the post, but she was just warming up.
A minute later she had a shot from distance which Karaan found too hot to handle, and it squirmed from her grasp for the equaliser. Within a minute, Barkers played the ball forward and a couple of Barkers chased. Thankfully Amy D’Ortenzio didn’t get there first (she was just offside) but Alizah Jones did – she took the ball forward, Karaan raced out of her area to block, but Jones regained the ball and took it past the keeper and hit it into the net to give Barkers a 2-1 lead in no time at all.
Ten minutes before the break, the ball was passed from the left wing to D’Ortenzio. It was an awkward high ball, but the Goal Machine adjusted herself and brought the ball down beautifully, then ran on and shot at the keeper. Right on half time, Barkers won a corner on the left. Walsh hit the ball to the edge of the six-yard box, where Sam Spencer got a neat touch to deflect the ball and fool the keeper, sending the ball trickling into the net for 3-1 Barkers at half-time.
Oddly enough, the second half was mostly Baxter trying to break Barkers down – commendable since they had only pride to play for. On 55 minutes they had a dangerous shot which was superbly judged by keeper Ashleigh Fraraccio as she allowed it to hit the bar. Then Baxter had a couple of free-kicks which Fraraccio caught at her far post.
Just after the hour, Barkers released Eleanor Ridley, who raced into the box and was brought down, but the ref waved play on – surprising as he had been prone to award soft free kicks all day. The last 20 minutes saw crucial saving tackles from Alexis Sketchley and Hannah Lee as Barkers defended doggedly, and held on to win 3-1.
Sadly, the very last action of the game saw Baxter’s Monique Steenbergen go down badly injured under an innocuous challenge, and taken to hospital. We wish her well. Meanwhile, Barkers’ efforts were in vain as news came through that Endeavour had won, meaning Barkers finished third.
So a season which promised much ends in disappointment. It should be noted, however, that this is basically the third-best season in their history in terms of wins and points. Despite a number of injuries to key players, Barkers beat every side except the champions Gippsland, and were the only team to beat Endeavour – and they did it twice. As they say, that’s football.
There was plenty of junior action at the weekend. Barkers’ winners were boys’ U18 (10-2 v Watsonia Heights), boys’ U12 Kangaroos (5-3 v Whitehorse), boys’ U12 Joeys (5-2 v Wonga Wizards), girls’ U15 (2-0 v Glen Eira), girls U13 (2-1 v Berwick) and girls’ U12 (8-2 v Malvern).
The junior season continues with a few catchup games in the next two weeks, then Esther Park gets ready for some fun activity in the summer tournaments. To find out what’s going on, head to the Mooroolbark Soccer Club Facebook page. Meanwhile, see you down the Kennel!
