Blog post and cup summary by Kateo..
The 8th of March saw the annual Macedonian Cup being held at Noble Park Soccer Club and the day brought a celebration of all things Macedonian… The six time defending champs Preston Lions sported a relatively new and refreshed line up coming into the tournament with a heavy fitness based pre season under their belts. With a mix of old and new faces, and the addition of some big name signings the Lions looked again likely to be thought of as favourites. The day brought a good opportunity for the girls to settle in with their new team mates and gel as a unit.
First Game v Noble Park:
The first 5 or so minutes the host team was quite strong in attack boasting with speedy strikers leaving the Preston centre backs Krystal Guerra and Georgia Boin to combat. Taking most of the first 15 minute half to settle into the game Preston soon found their groove with new signing Jess D’Amore setting up play and opening opportunities from left back. Her run and carry along with aggressiveness pushing past the half way line set up alot of play forward for the Lions. The first goal came at the 12minute mark with a strong cross into the box from another new signing Stef Oddo finding Giuliana Pavia who layed it off to Casey Naumovski with an easy finish across the keepers body. A long rage shot from Noble Park saw it at 1-1 soon after half time.
Pivotal signing Stephanie “Bobby” Galea showed an array of fancy footwork all day and controlled that centre midfield from the get go. Unselfishness and pure class sees her as a main player this season for the Lions and the move from Bundoora United should be applauded and commended. She made it 2-1 with a supreme free kick taken a minute after Noble Park’s successful strike.
Crosses were exceptional all day and the strongest part of the Lions game. Elizabeth Eyar and Stefanie Oddo are credit to this with help from Giuliana Pavia streaming down the wing with extreme pace. The day saw Diana Piculovski re kindling with her striker roots and converted the nail in the coffin with a massive strike just before full time to make it 3-1.
Second Game v Shepparton:
Second game cemented the good form from the first game and the Lions most certainly continued this form throughout the rest of the day. Elizabeth Eyar flourished in a new left back role with Jess D’Amore being used further up the ground. Her run, passing game and strength helped her perform for me the second best play of the day. A pinpointed cross to Casey Naumovski’s head saw a simple header into goal which opened the scoring campaign for the Lions. 1-0. The team work and precision throughout the day was just the start of an ever improving cohesive unit. Nothing short of a few minutes later (10minute mark) a small flick on in with the tootsie by Stefanie Oddo to Jess D’Amore on the line came the second goal. 2-0.
Chances from Galea and Eyar went squandering as the score should have tallied. Through Giuliana Pavia’s run similar to that of a horse in the Melbourne Cup the right side was opened right up and when the after burners were switched on no player from country Shepparton stood a chance. Her dash of about 25 metres saw a composed low pass across the box in a 2 v 1 equation, which saw Stef Oddo casually convert 1metre out. 3-0. Soon after they were handed a penalty from a wayward challenge in the box from Georgia Boin and converted. The game finished 3-1.
Third Game v Geelong:
This game was a showcase of the talent of the current squad we maintain in particular Stef Oddo. The move from Bundoora was a welcome one. Her class, calmness, power and understanding of the game is the envy of every player and is such an asset for our club. This game was a onslaught of quality goals so to lighten the reading I will just list as follows..
Stefanie Oddo, Stef Galea, Di Piculovski x2, Casey Naumovski, Jess D’Amore, Stef Oddo again, Elizabeth Eyar x2 and Di again to finish off.
Final score 10-0.
Final v Keilor Wolves:
The final of the Macedonian Cup brought the heat in more ways than one other than the weather. The feisty Wolves stood no chance from the get go as the Lions piled on 3 goals in less than 10 minutes. Steph Galea started the avalanche of quality in the first half with an absolute cracker of the shot from outside the 18 yard box. To no prevail, it did leave the crowd gasping at what a fine talent we had the pleasure of witnessing. Jess D’Amore let fly the first bullet with a side foot into goal to open the attack. 1-0. Started from good vision at the back by Krystal Guerra and was played the whole way down the field.
The pressure on the Wolves defence in the first half was intense and the second goal to Casey was a testament to that pressure. She dispossessed in the box and finished true. 2-0. Shortly after a free kick was awarded to The General Di, which was taken by Galea just outside the box was calmly slotted. 3-0.
That pressure again was on showcase and the fourth goal was snared by Stef Oddo with an easy slot through. 4-0. Another Elizabeth to Casey Combo was on show and after a pin point cross was again given to Casey’s head who made it 5-0. The last goal of the day was the best of the whole tournament. Weaving, twisting, turning out of trouble, the class was on show by Steph Galea who tricked most of the Wolves defence and finished well to make it 6-0.
This was the scoreline for the final, with the second half proving shall we say….a feisty one. Keilor clearly frustrated, forgot that football actually was the main element of the game. Preston’s first half goals and footwork was the difference and proved that once again we were too strong.
Hard work prevailed and this hopefully is a good sign for the upcoming season. Looking forward to a successful 2015. Credit to the coaching and admin staff George, Ernie, Dave Zac and Peter.
PLFC on the march and is looking to return to the powerhouse it once was.
Signing off, KATEO.