Victoria WPL Round 11: Inter smash Ashburton

Box Hill Inter recorded a huge 5-0 victory over Asburton to launch them back into contention for the top spot in the league in round 11 of the Womens Premier League (WPL) on the weekend.

Bendigo Vipers drew with South Melbourne halting South’s return to form and Altona City notched up their second win of the year over Casey Comets.

The final game of the round, which will determine the top of the league, will be played Monday night between Heidelberg United and Sandringham. The Bergers have a game in hand, but a loss will see Inter reclaim the top position in the league on their impressive goal difference.

Box Hill Inter bounced back after a shock draw to South Melbourne last week and a loss to Casey in round nine to thrash the fourth placed Ashburton.

Aleksandra Sinclair and Natalie Exon both scored a brace for Inter and Deanna Niceski was the other goal scorer for the reigning WPL Premiers.

The win by Inter, their biggest since round 16 last year, has finally shown the potential of the team which has captured the WPL premiership sixth time in eight years.

This year Inter has the bonus of returning W-League players, such as Louisa Bisby, Tal Karp and Jessica Humble following the shift in policy of the National Training Centre program which, in 2009, prevented players from Melbourne Victory from playing in the WPL.

Box Hill also recruited several new W-League players including New Zealand national player, Marlies Oostdam and young talent Ursula Hughson. They also have the biggest weapon in the womens game between the uprights in Matilda captain Melissa Barbieri.

Inters victory is all the more impressive given it was against Ashburton, which have showed form this year notching up five wins to sit in fourth place. But this is Ashburton’s third loss on the trot marking a mid-season slump for the Chis Michaile’s team.

Altona City, the new team to the league in 2010, grabbed their second win of the season, coming from behind to defeat Casey Comets 3-2 at HC Kim Reserve on Sunday afternoon.

The defeat ended the Comets run of wins over the past three weeks and is a lost opportunity for them to break into the top four following Ashburton’s loss.

Altona held good possession in the first half but it was the Comets which scored from their first decent shot of the game when Talia Silivestros found the back of the net.

The home team responded in emphatic fashion blasting two goals in the first four minutes of the second half – a lead they held onto for the remainder of the match.

Christine Fonua got the equaliser two minutes after the major break to put the teams on equal terms and Alex Miller scored Altona’s second goal minutes later to grab the lead.

Altona held that momentum when Kerri Little found the net for the home team to give them a 3-1 buffer.

The Comets showed they were not done with Altona and snatched a consolation goal four minutes from full time, but Altona held on for their second win of the season.

Altona coach Paul Kilpatrick was understandably pleased with the effort of his young team against a quality opposition, especially since the team is missing five of their regular starters due to injury.

“Casey are a good side, but I felt we dominated the game,” Kilpatrick said after the match.

“The girls competed for 90 minutes and we had a few players that were pretty much down on form in the first half but after half time everyone lifted as a team.”

“To go 3-1 up to a team…that will go close to playing finals this year (Casey Comets), it was good. I felt we deserved the three points and it was just a good team effort,” he said.

Despite the win Altona remain in second last position, but they are equal on points with South Melbourne, on goal difference. Casey remain in fifth position, level on points with fourth placed Ashburton, but below on goal difference.

In the other game of the round South Melbourne and Bendigo Vipers fought out a one-all draw at McIvor Reserve on Sunday afternoon.

Both teams have similar records over the past three weeks notching up a win and two draws and hitting some form half way through the season.

The Vipers came into this game following a huge moral boosting win over third placed Sandringham last week and they took a 1-0 lead in the first half when midfielder Paige Conder was on target, and they took this advantage into the break.

In the second half South hit back through Penny Bakopoulos to level the match 1-1 and neither team was able to break the deadlock before the final whistle.

South Melbourne have shown marked improvement over the past three games after a disaster start to season, which saw them unable to win a game until round five.

The return of Laura Spiranovic and the appointment of new coach Alan Davidson seems to have improved the fortunes of South Melbourne, which had their best season ever in 2009 finishing third.

Next week the Vipers face the formidable task of playing Box Hill at home on Friday night while South Melbourne will have their work cut out for them when they take on Heidelberg. Ashburton will be hoping to get their season back on track when they play Altona at home and Preston will be back in action after a week off to play Sandringham.