Sometimes football is a numbers game. Eleven shots to three in the first half. Two goals. One disallowed. And an opposition goalkeeper who seemed personally offended by the idea of conceding.
Manningham United Blues 2-2 Eltham Redbacks. VPLW Round 1. A point earned at Petty’s Reserve, but it should have been all three.
Eltham were behind inside three minutes. Tiana Orfanidis parried a long-range strike but couldn’t get enough distance on the clearance, and Sienna Tentura headed in the rebound. Early adversity in the first competitive match for Jonathan Barrientos’ rebuilt squad. The response told you everything about what this group is made of.
From the 5th minute onwards, Izzy Berks was unplayable. The winger terrorised Manningham’s right side with driving runs that had defenders scrambling. Her first shot drew a sharp save from Melissa Maizels. Her second drew an even better one. The former Melbourne Victory goalkeeper was in for a long afternoon, and she knew it.
It was the 23rd minute when Berks burst into the box again, delivered a cross, and Claudia Dimasi was in the right spot to tap home the equaliser. 1-1, and on the balance of play, well overdue.
What followed was one of the more extraordinary individual goalkeeping displays you’ll see at any level. Maizels, the Manningham captain, simply would not be beaten. Taylor Halabi tested her from range. Saved. Mamone fired from close. Saved. Ally Giovino couldn’t convert from Berks’ cross to the far post. Then the big one: Mamone played through one-on-one by Paige Foa, nothing but grass between her and the net. Maizels stood tall and made the stop. Five genuine chances in the first half, five answers from the keeper.
Berks, though, was having none of it. In the 43rd minute she collected the ball just inside the area, beat her marker, and fired through a crowded box. Even Maizels couldn’t keep that one out. 2-1 to Eltham at the break. Thoroughly deserved.
The second half followed a familiar pattern early. Eltham pressed, Maizels saved, Manningham hung on. Then the hosts’ best moment arrived through a former Redback. Charbel Shimizu, who played for Eltham last season, broke clear on the counter and struck the crossbar from distance. It was the closest Manningham had come to an equaliser on their own terms, and a reminder that the hosts still had teeth.
Dimasi had the ball in the net again in the 71st minute, but the flag went up for offside. Frustrating, but the lead held. Eltham still looked comfortable.
Then another former Redback stepped up. Holly Tsalikidis, positioned perfectly at the back post, converted a cross from the right in the 85th minute to draw Manningham level. 2-2. Petty’s Reserve erupted.
Maizels still wasn’t finished. In the 87th minute she produced a diving save to deny Eltham a late winner, preserving the point her performance thoroughly deserved.
Two ex-Eltham players directly involved in Manningham’s two best moments. Football has a habit of writing those kinds of scripts.
A draw, and for the Redbacks a frustrating one. But this was the first competitive outing for a squad rebuilt from the ground up. Berks was outstanding. Dimasi was everywhere, scoring, creating, and copping a yellow card for good measure. Foa linked play intelligently. Giovino pressed. Orfanidis was solid behind them.
The result doesn’t tell the full story. Eleven shots to three in the first half does. The combinations are coming. The pieces are there.
Round 2 awaits.