State League 2 North West – Keilor Park vs Darebin Falcons
In what was a hard fought and tense final round of the Women’s North West Division 2, the Darebin Falcons achieved a draw in a hard fought contest against Keilor Park.
Needing to win the game or at the very least come away with a draw to have any chance from finishing bottom of the table, Darebin started very positively, dominating the first 20 mins with 3 -4 shots on target. Played in hot and gusty conditions, Darebin struggled to come to terms with the bounce of the ball on the new astro turf pitch at Keilor Park. Playing against much younger opponents, the Falcons fought hard to get the goal they really deserved in the first half….With both teams attacking it looked like Darebin had opened the scoring when a great cross from Carolyn Monk was met with a flying header on target by Sina, only to have the Keilor Park GK make a fine save to thwart Darebin.
When Nicky also broke into the box in the last minute of the first half it looked like the Falcons were certain to score but another great save again stopped Darebin in their tracks. Darebin had the wind in the second half and while we had wave after wave of attack it looked like it was not going to be our day…All looked lost when Keilor Park caught us on the counter attack and scored and then went 2 goals ahead with only 15 mins to go…..
Throwing caution to the wind, Darebin refused to give up and with midfielders Monky, Heather and JB all pressing forward, a scramble in the box saw Nicky finally slot a goal home.
After several strong corners it looked like Darebin would end up losing 2-1, when in the 92nd minute of the game, Lauren Proudfoot lofted a cross into the 18 yard box, Nicky was able to turn her defender and smashed the ball into the back of the net…. End result 2-2.
The fact that we scored 2 goals also ended up having a factor in the results at the end of the season. For the Div 2 team to avoid finishing in tenth position, we needed Yarra Jets to beat Latrobe Uni by 2 or more goals and we needed a result. The final score was Yarra Jets 3 defeated Latrobe Uni 1…..this meant that Darebin and Latrobe Uni finished on exactly the same number of points (9) and had the same goal difference (-56)…….Darebin had drawn 3 games and lost 13 times while Latrobe Uni had lost 15 times, so in the end it came down to the loss ratio and goals scored during the season….We had scored 19 goals and Latrobe Uni had scored 18…..
A very close result but one the Falcons are happy with as we matched it with many of the top teams in the Division. It was a real tribute to the fighting qualities in the team who have really survived an injury riddled season. Well Done to all Falcons who played in and assisted the Div 2 team this season…..