Footscray’s First XI women travelled to Altona to take on the A’s in their first ever clash in Victoria’s premier State League One competition. After being on the receiving end of a thrashing from Footscray during the pre-season, Altona was ready for a tough contest. Altona looked good early, with former international Dannielle Schubach controlling the midfield and setting up strikers Nicola Brown and Sarantis with early opportunities. Altona peppered the net in the first ten minutes, but were unable to score. Emma Aitken and Schubach were cutting through the Footscray midfield with ease, but the domination was not reflected on the scoreboard. After a period of intense attacking pressure, Altona finally converted, with Schubach smashing a penalty corner strike into the net to take a 1-0 lead at half time.
Footscray came out from the break revitalized and full of running. They constantly attacked putting the Altona defence under immense pressure. Co-Captain Lauren Winship and fellow full backs Carla Ruhe and Kerrin Ford, were almost impenetrable, as was goal keeper Carrie Evans. After several near misses, Footscray equalized through a perfectly executed deflection on a penalty corner. While Altona made several frantic attempts to regain the lead in the final few minutes, they were unable to score. While both sides looked dejected after the final whistle, the result reflected the tight tussle and even nature of both sides. Coach Marc Richardson was disappointed after the match: “We’ve got to score more goals to be a force in this competition. Our best players today were all in our back six, which shows we were fantastic at withstanding pressure, but not able to apply scoreboard pressure on our opposition.”
Altona take on Essendon away next Sunday.
Altona 1 drew with Footscray 1
Goal: Dannielle Schubach
Best: Lauren Winship, Carrie Evans, Kerrin Ford, Dannielle Schubach