By Peter Stephenson
Barkerettes (first) hosted their first-ever meeting with Monash City Villarreal (fourth). Having scored enough goals to just overhaul Collingwood and go top last week, this would be a different challenge, given that Monash had lost to only Collingwood this season.
Having a fancy foreign name does you no good when you’re up against Barkers, and within a minute, a shot was deflected into the path of Alizah Jones, who shot home for 1-0 Barkers. Four minutes later, Monash’s Alejandra Martinez was all over Alexis Sketchley, who still managed to pass the ball down the right despite being fouled.
On the quarter hour, Barkers doubled their lead when they worked the ball down the right wing. The cross was missed by the defence and ran through to the far side of the box, where Jones was waiting to hit the ball into the net from 10 yards for her and Barkers’ second – 2-0.
Monash continued to try to intimidate Barkers, including a sneaky kick from the goalkeeper behind play. On the occasions Monash did threaten, the Barkers defence was solid, with Sketchley absolutely everywhere and Ashleigh Fraraccio acting as a very handy sweeper-keeper. On 21 minutes, Monash’s Phoebe Page was in on goal, but a poor shot dragged wide. Then another attack was thwarted by a superb block from Sketchley.
Barkers had a couple of chances before the break, with Kelly Butera hitting a long shot just over, then Matilda Steele hitting a good ball in from the right which was cut out by the keeper. Half-time: Barkers 2-0 Monash. Monash looked decent early on, but Barkers soon began to play their football. The defence was solid, and up front, Steele wasn’t scared to get stuck in – useful when you play a side for whom football is an excuse for bullying.
The second half began quietly, then after 57 minutes, good interplay between Jones, Amy D’Ortenzio and Butera saw the latter hit a first-time shot just wide. The next attack brought an excellent double save from the Monash keeper, but her teammates were continuing to dish out the rough stuff.
It was no surprise, therefore, when a blatant foul won Barkers a penalty, which was calmly put away by Butera to make it 3-0 Barkers. With the next attack, Barkers crossed from the left to the far post, where the lurking Eleanor Ridley shot point blank, but the keeper blocked superbly. Then on 69 minutes, the ball was played out to Hannah Turnbull, whose goalbound shot brought another good block from the Monash keeper.
Inevitably, Barkers found the net again. With 17 minutes left, Jones ran on to a through ball and grabbed her second hat-trick of the season to make it 4-0. The final chance of the game saw Butera hit a long lazy chip from 25 yards against the bar, and Charlotte McCullough put the rebound wide.
Barkers played Monash off the park in one of their best displays of the season, and now Collingwood must outscore them by one goal on Sunday to regain top spot. Then next week it’s the match of the season as the Pies host the Barkers.
