By Peter Stephenson
A mild but drizzly Friday night at the Kennel saw the first ever meeting of Barkerettess and Mentone, in round three of Women’s State 3 South. Barkers were looking to get back on track after a 1-3 loss at home to Gippsland United, and were poised to give debuts to more juniors, in Chloe Hartshorn and Alizah Jones. Striker Lisa Walsh was playing her 100th game.
The first 25 minutes were uneventful but then Mentone broke away and scored against the run of play. However, the linesman flagged for offside, so Barkers could breathe again. They took advantage of the reprieve on 35 minutes when Amy D’Ortenzio found herself with only the keeper to beat. As usual, she calmly did just that with a shot beyond the keeper’s reach. Half-time arrived with Barkers 1-0 up.
As in the previous game against Gippsland, Barkers improved in the second half as they overran a tired Mentone, who had no bench. Eleven minutes in, D’Ortenzio hit a low shot wide of the keeper, who up until then had stopped almost everything thrown at her, to make it 2-0 to Barkers.
The Barkers’ youngsters were giving the Mentone defence a torrid time and, with less than 20 minutes to go, Walsh’s moment finally came. Barkers attacked down the right, and a stunning cross into the box saw Walsh head home from close range to celebrate her milestone – 3-0 Barkers.
At the other end, keeper Ashleigh Fraraccio was having a quiet night and looked set to finally break the clean sheet record. Barkers defender Jordyn Clausen, however, had other ideas and on 78 minutes, handled the ball as she fell, conceding a penalty which was duly converted – 3-1 Barkers.
With five minutes left, Walsh almost scored her fourth corner of the season (surely some sort of record), but it was handled at the near post, and Walsh herself converted the spot kick to give Barkers a comfortable and deserved win. Full-time: Mooroolbark 4-1 Mentone.
This was, in the end, a straightforward victory over a limited opponent. However, it would be remiss not to mention the Mentone goalkeeper, who played a blinder, and must be wondering how she copped four goals. Next for Barkers is a trip to Beaumaris.
