WESTERN NSW Mariners FC might have lost their first women’s State League match of the season, but the outlook is still positive after a busy double-header weekend of action.
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The Mariners suffered an unfamiliar loss at Proctor Park on Saturday as they went down to the Mount Druitt Town Rangers FC 2-1.
Injuries struck the Mariners side early in Sunday’s match away against the Gladesville Ravens, but the Western women were able to bounce back and win 2-0.
Mariners were down 2-0 at half-time against the Rangers and while improvement in the second half led to a Katie Pakai-Kelly goal, it wasn’t enough to salvage points.
Injuries to Kya Godbier (hamstring) and Pakai-Kelly (ankle) early in the Ravens match got the Western side off to a dismal start, but they recovered in style thanks to goals to Brianna Trappett and Tayla Lloyd.
The Mariners were without captain Kristy Collingridge for the weekend and without the support of goalkeeper Jess Daymond on Saturday.
The mixed bag of results had more positives than negatives in the eyes of Mariners coach Mick Godbier, who was down on players due to unavailability, injuries and suspensions.
“Regardless of the players we have out ... we have a level of football that we’re always striving to play at. Against the Rangers we were better in that second half but, unfortunately, we scored our only goal of the game too late,” he said.
“We just started playing better towards the end of the game and we only started to play well with 15 minutes to go. You can’t do that. Unfortunately, both the goals we gave up just came from defensive errors.
“On Sunday, Brianna Trappett made her debut for us at the age of 14 or 15. We put her up front on the left side and she scored her first goal for us. Her, Alyssa Armstrong, Sarah Colman and Chloe Lanham came onto the bench for us – Brianna starting – after playing their NSW Country matches in the ACT the day before. It’s a real testament to the youth of the club.
“We’re very happy to have Teagan Courtney back for us. I’d hate to think what might have happened if she wasn’t there on Sunday. Her and Jess Daymond made some crucial stops for us in that game.”
The weekend’s results mark the completion of one-third of the competition, with the Mariners now having played all seven teams once so far.
The results leave the Mariners in third on the table with 14 points, level on goal difference with second-placed SD Raiders and two points off the UNSW Lions.
“We haven’t gone too badly at all. I’m rapt with the defensive unit we have. I couldn’t be happier with that going forward, but there’s still a bit of tinkering to do when it comes to playing in that final third of the field,” Godbier said.
“We’ll have Parramatta at Proctor Park on Sunday. As I’ve said before, there’s no easy games in this competition ... and I said to the girls that I expect all teams to lift when they come out to play us at Bathurst or Mudgee. We know that we have to be better than what we were on Saturday.
“The great thing for us is we’ll have Sammie Wood [suspended] and Collo [Collingridge] back for us.”
MOUNT DRUITT TOWN RANGERS FC 2 defeated WESTERN NSW MARINERS FC 1 (Katie Pakai-Kelly) and WESTERN NSW MARINERS FC 2 (Brianna Trappett, Tayla Lloyd) defeated GLADESVILLE RAVENS 0
