Important wins for the Premier Women and Senior Men capped off a sunny winter’s day of soccer.
Healesville Premier Women 5–1 Blackburn
On a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Don Road, Healesville hosted a hugely improved Blackburn team.
The home side rushed the pass initially, and this gave Blackburn some early momentum that required some good saves from Kells to resist.
Tess stepped up with a great finish for Healesville’s first goal.
She then turned provider for Kiah, who arrived at the back post to make it 2–0 in quick time.
A fantastic header off a corner by skipper Sarah had everyone cheering.
It was 3–0 at half-time and the team was relaxed.
The second half started with the Reds on the front foot.
Defence held firm and the home side kept attacking.
Tess grabbed a second before a beautifully worked corner saw Kiah score again, arriving perfectly to make it 5–0 before Blackburn got some consolation via a penalty.
Healesville Men’s Firsts 4–3 MUFC
After two losses, Healesville needed a win to keep their title hopes alive.
The Reds missed a host of chances in the first half, the best of which was when JJ headed wide from six yards out after David M had hit the cross bar.
A poor ball from defence resulted in a great strike from Maroondah as they took an undeserved 1–0 half-time lead.
Healesville made some tactical changes after the break, courtesy of Bubs’ and Tony’s input, and regained parity 30 seconds into the second half, JJ atoning for his earlier miss with a delicate chip over the onrushing keeper.
Five minutes later JJ’s second had the home side 2–1 in front.
A poorly headed clearance saw Maroondah hit another great strike and the scores were level again.
Daniel T then hit a great strike of his own and captain Anthony M scored at the far post from a cross and things were looking comfortable for the hosts.
With three minutes left the visitors scored directly from a corner to leave the game on a knife edge, but Healesville held firm and took home a deserved three points, leaving them one point off the top with four games to go.
Healesville U14 Red Devils 4–1 Berwick
The Devils made the long and winding trip to Berwick to avenge their close Cup defeat a few weeks ago.
With a full squad to choose from, the visitors started strongly.
Some lovely passages of play saw the midfield link up well with the forwards.
Eloise W opened the scoring with a fantastic finish on the left foot at the 10-minute mark.
More dominance of possession followed before Evie T took a shot from just inside the box that ended up in top corner.
Half-time and 2–0 up against Berwick was exactly how the girls were three weeks ago before Berwick pulled two goals back to take it to penalties, so they couldn’t rest on their laurels going into the second half.
But the Devils’ relentless effort and pressure was there for all to see, with all 15 girls staying on task to secure another two goals in the second half.
Sia finished well for the third and an Evie T solo effort was the icing on the cake.
Berwick scored an absolute screamer on the last kick off the game, but a 4–1 win was a fair result for the performance.
It was hard to pick a best on ground as all 15 girls played their part, but Stella C, Zara P and Georgia C’s pressure and determination all day was great to see.
The Devils are fired up for next week’s top-of-the-table clash against league leaders Knox.
Healesville U12 Diamonds 3–0 Bayswater Tiger Sharks
Playing against a lovely team in the Bayswater side, the Diamonds enjoyed a close tussle the whole way.
To walk away with a win was a welcome reprieve after some recent big losses.
Keely and Emmelia scored great goals after their efforts pushing forward paid off on Saturday.
An unfortunate own goal from Bayswater contributed to a 3–0 win for Healesville.
Healesville U16s 0–1 Yarra Valley
The Yarra Ranges rivalry was in full force this week as both teams sat equal on points at the top end of the ladder.
The Reds tried a new formation and tactic to break Valley’s system.
A tough, hard contest where neither team really got on top was fought for virtually the entire match.
Charlie J starred as keeper, while the same can be said for Gordon K in a rare return to defence and Harry L, who cut off so many promising YV attacks.
Nil-all at half-time and the instruction was more of the same – and that’s just what the spectators got.
There were five minutes to go when a corner ball just hit Charlie’s fingertips and Valley got a stunning header to score the game’s only goal.
There were many positives from the game for Healesville.
After a big loss in their last meeting, they made it very difficult for Valley and nearly finished the day with some points.
After the game both teams joined arm in arm to represent the Yarra Ranges in great spirit.
Other results:
Healesville U11 Ninjas 2–2 Maroondah
Goals: Leo, Noah
Healesville U12 Panthers 2–4 Berwick Blues
Goals: Ryan, Sam
Healesville U12 White Wolves 0–7 Berwick United
Healesville U9s White 2–3 Berwick
