While their forwards struggled, Casey defenders Naomi Eaton, left, and Laura Croft refused to give their opponents time with the ball. 67682
By Gavin Staindl
IF disappointed Casey fans could take anything away from Sunday’s scoreless draw, it would be the reactions of the players after the match.
In the past, players have been called into question for showing a lack of passion or intensity, but the Comets were visibly upset after their performance against Ashburton, which resulted in only the second scoreless draw of the Women’s Premier League season.“They knew their performance wasn’t good enough, I won’t have to remind them,” coach Ian Williamson said.
In fear of being relegated, Ashburton packed its defence hoping to salvage a point and as such, the game instantly turned into a deadlock.
Nevertheless, the usually clinical Comets were nothing more than drifting asteroids when heading forward.
For the first time this season, the Comets did not produce a shot on target, with Aimee Benton skying a half-chance and Taryn Brown missing wide with a late header that would have almost guaranteed a win.
“We were not firing in the forward line,” Williamson said. “While our defence was good again, we never broke from the midfield. I wasn’t very happy with it. For some reason we play below our ability based on the opposition.”
In the last four weeks, Casey has drawn with Ashburton, Bundoora and lost to Doncaster – all teams fighting to avoid relegation, yet last week it managed to beat the highly fancied Sandringham.
With the catch-up round scheduled for this week, Williamson will look to freshen up his girls, but admits he “won’t be taking them out for ice-cream or to the movies.”
“They’ll be rested … but not rested,” he said. “We will still have our recovery sessions but during the week we’ll be going to the gym rather than training.”
