James Murphy
AS soccer action kicked off around Mount Gambier over the weekend, the Limestone Coast Football Association women’s competition gave a glimpse of what to expect this season.
The match of the week for the opening round was contested between Apollo and International on Saturday, with the latter emerging the victors in a 1-0 result.
In an arm wrestle of a match, a goal to Inter’s Satomi Unayama in the opening half was enough to secure the points.
The second half was a tightly-fought affair and neither team was able to convert, leaving Inter to the win.
On Sunday Gambier Centrals proved too hot to handle for its Naracoorte opponents.
In their first season in the women’s competition, Naracoorte will aim to improve each week and will take confidence from Stephanie Brownrigg’s second-half goal.
However, the Lions roared to life from the first whistle and with seven goals in the opening half, had the game won by the break.
They continued to find goal with ease after half time and added five more goals for good measure to finish with a 12-1 triumph.
Erin Horsnell was the best of the goal shooters with four to her name, while three to Olivia Gwilym and two each to Wanita Robinson and captain Kiah Connolly showed diversity around the goal square.
Janaye Donaldson rounded out the scorers with one goal.
The final game of the round saw Blue Lake host Millicent for a solid four-goal win.
The Rangers led 2-1 at half time, before piling on three goals after the break to put the game to rest.
Aimee Brooks and Chelsea Frost topped the scoresheets with two goals each, while Lauren Frost also found the back of the net.
The Rangers will look forward to a challenge against Inter this round, which will be a good early indication of which team might find itself on top for 2022.
Apollo will look for consecutive victories when it travels to Naracoorte, while Centrals visits Millicent for Round 2.
