Is it too early in the season to say the Swanettes are carrying Sale United?
Maybe, considering the senior men also won at the weekend, but it was no 13-0 domination.
Sale United travelled to Newborough on Sunday, meeting Monash Soccer Club for Round 3 of the 2023 Latrobe Valley Soccer League season. The Swans walked away with wins in the senior men and women competitions, 4-2 and 13-0 consecutively.
Sale United Green was defeated 2-1 by Monash in the second division and Sale United White by Fortuna 60, while Monash also claimed the win in the reserves 2-1.
Luca Haran was the sole goal scorer for Sale United White, with Mark Cockell being the goal scorer for Sale United Green, while Rowan Crinall found the back of the net for Sale in the reserves.
The Swanettes took the field on Sunday morning, with playing coach Madeline Breakspear compelled to insert players into unfamiliar positions owing to the absence of several Sale United players for various reasons.
“We were a bit slow in the first half; it took us a little bit to find our rhythm,” Breakspear said.
“We had a few girls playing in positions they don’t normally play, so we obviously had a couple of changes with that.”
Sale United retired to the change rooms leading 4-0; Breakspear scored the Swanettes’ first goal in the opening 10 minutes, quickly followed by two goals in three minutes from senior men’s coach Anouk Meereboer and the fourth by striker Dani Wilson.
“In the second half, we were a lot more clinical,” Breakspear said.
“The first half, we should have had a lot more goals, but we weren’t so aggressive and lacked that finesse in front of goals.
“But once everyone figured out, ‘okay, we’ve got time, we can actually play properly, we can play our game’, we were scoring goals left, right and centre.
“And to have a spread of goal scorers as well, we weren’t just relying on one or two players, (it) shows how versatile we were in the game and how well we worked together as a team.
“Just having those combinations, didn’t matter who was playing what position, we were still able to capitalise and score from those spots.”
A second goal for Wilson opened the second half of the game, with the Swanettes finding the back of the net seven times in 10 minutes – Wilson scoring three, Meereboer three and Rebecca Stobbie one.
Wilson claimed a hat-trick plus one, and Meereboer was one goal short of a double hat-trick at the game’s conclusion.
Sale United’s class forward Hollie Ryan claimed Sale United’s 12th goal with 20 minutes remaining, while the Swanettes 2023 captain Zoe Askew scored the 13th and final goal in the last five minutes.
“Another clean sheet for us today [Sunday, April 2] shows that not only are we able to score goals, but we are stopping them from going in as well,” Breakspear said.
“We had to share goalkeeper around, we didn’t have any of our regular goalkeeper options, so the girls stepped up, and it was a really good team display, girls playing goalkeeper, like Hollie scoring goals, then playing goalkeeper the next minute, same as Anouk, scoring a bucket of goals then jumping in goals.
“So it was a really good team display today, everyone really tried to play our game, and it was really nice to watch those passages of play.”
At the conclusion of Round 3, Sale United senior women now hold second and third leading goal scorers in the league, with Meereboer totalling six and Wilson five.
Falcons 2000 Soccer Club’s Savannah Lapenta is the current leader with 11 goals.
Meereboer was best on ground for Sale United, with commendations going to first-year player Chelsea Page who put forward a stellar performance at right full-back.
“She [Page] played really well, for a first-year player, she did really well defending, which was really nice to watch,” Breakspear said.
“Emma Robb played really well in defence, too; she did well leading the back.
“Zoe Askew, Hollie Ryan and Dani Wilson up front are lethal, like lethal up front, those poor defenders, I think they broke their spirit a little bit, just their speed and the way they passed rings around them and the through balls, it cut them out of the game, they couldn’t do anything about it, those three up front were impressive, very impressive.”
With the second division, senior women and reserve competitions done and dusted, the senior men took the field at Monash SC with spectators congregating around the field’s edge, others perched on top of the surrounding hill in sun-warmed vehicles, peering down into the crater-like hole, the white line marked pitch almost centred in the earthy crevice.
Following a significant win in the senior women’s competition earlier that day, in which Meereboer scored five of Sale’s 13 goals, the senior men’s coach was determined to claim another victory in the day’s final match.
“What I told the guys was to start attacking from the start, got to put them under pressure, and we did it within the first few minutes, and we got two in,” Meereboer said.
“Then we got the 3-0 up; it was a great start, but unfortunately, we let them in with a penalty and a free kick, but the guys worked hard until the end, and we got a fourth goal in.
“Great play, all the goals were good play, we put the pressure on them and got the goals in – it was good.”
Sale United led Monash 2-0 early doors, with Isaak Jondahl finding the back of the net in the first 60 seconds, scoring a brace for the Swans just two minutes later.
Charlie Cockell furthered Sale United’s lead 3-0, netting the ball 20 minutes into the first half, with Monash scoring a consolidation goal from a penalty before the break.
Returning to the field, Monash scored a second goal in the opening minutes of the second half to close Sale United’s lead 3-2, but Marrien van den Heuvel killed the game in the 78th minute, with the Swans retiring to the rooms at the end of 90 minutes 4-2 victors.
“We definitely played better than we did last week,” Meereboer said.
“There was a little bit more pressure on the guys compared to last week, so they needed to play a better game, and they were finding each other quite well, especially from the start.
“The second goal was a really beautiful combination play from the halfway line all the way up to the six-yard box, with three, four, players involved.
“Same with the fourth goal, was good combination play with Marrien kicking it in at the back.
“The other two goals, good pressing, what we have been working on, so playing-wise, we are definitely picking up what we are putting in at training, and as a coach, what else [that is all] do you want to see.”
Van Den Heuvel was best on ground for Sale United.
“Marrien was really important for us,” Meereboer said.
“He was a little bit sore; on one side, you want to take him off to look after him, but on the other side, he was important to still be on the pitch, so we left him on the pitch a little bit longer, and he put in a goal, he was our man up top to get the ball to and start the combination play from there.
“Dave Durning in the back line, winning all the tackles, he was really up there.
“The work rate from the midfield, I am asking a lot from our wingbacks, Fobbie (Brennan McGill), Ot (Khamchom), Charlie (Cockell) at the end, and their effort, in the end, was good.”
Sale United Football Club will play Churchill United Soccer Club in Round 4 of the 2023 Latrobe Valley Soccer League season on Saturday, April 15, at the Godfrey Baldwin Reserve, Sale.