Irena Taseski scored her third goal of the FFV season in the Comets’ 3-0 win over the Eastern Lions at Gardiners Creek Reserve on Sunday, but is still deciding whether to play on in 2008.By Marc McGowan
THE Casey Comets’ 3-0 victory over the Eastern Lions at Gardiners Creek Reserve in the final round of the Football Federation Victoria Women’s Premier League on Sunday has been dampened by a blatant act of sexism.
On arrival at the ground, the Comets were informed they would be playing their match on the reserve’s number two oval, with a junior male fixture scheduled for the main pitch.
After some heated discussion and a phone call to FFV officials, the Premier League clash was finally switched to the number one field.
It did not come before Casey was awarded the reserves contest by forfeit, or a 15-minute delay to the senior kick-off, which infuriated Comets coach Deborah Nichols.
“It was like going back 20 years. I haven’t seen that for a while,” she said.
“It happened on a regular basis in the past, but certainly not from what I’ve seen in the last five or six years.
“(The FFV) wrote it into Premier League rules (that those games must take preference) to avoid women being any less than equal, and this was not something I was expecting.”
The match was changed from a 90-minute clash into a shortened 80-minute encounter because of the delay.
Lost in all the upheaval was the fact that Casey was able to claim sixth spot, which had become its prime goal in recent weeks after a top-five finish – and a place in the finals – was no longer possible.
Tenacious Comets veteran Irena Taseski slotted the opener for Casey in the 25th minute to give her club a 1-0 lead at half-time before Lisa Cloke bagged a second-half brace to continue her sudden goal surge.
“Lisa’s season has been disappointing, and she would agree with that,” Nichols said.
“She has had a lot of distractions this year with trying to get into at least two or three state teams and playing school football.
“She’s had too much on her plate to focus on Cranbourne, and it’s the same with Anna Carmichael.
“Since Anna dropped out of state reckoning she’s played her best football for us.
“Sometimes with the young ones there are too many things happening outside the club and they don’t always give their full energies to the club.”
Another positive for the Comets was the return of captain Jeni Black, who had been out with a long-term neck injury.
Casey will regain the services of teenage sensation Alex Gummer next year and she will hopefully be free of the persistent knee problems that forced her onto the sidelines.
Nichols has identified her team’s lack of firepower up front as being the chief reason it missed the finals for the first time in a decade, and is keen to address the situation during the off-season.
But after losing leading goalkicker Sarah Fitzgerald (retirement), and Lucy Kapusta (transfer to Sandringham) midway through the year, and suffering through multiple injuries, Nichols remained positive.
“We’re obviously disappointed not to have made the finals, but once they were off the radar sixth place was our next aim and, obviously, we came up trumps,” she said.
“We were one of the younger teams in the league, so it was a pretty good result.”
Taseski, who is weighing up retirement, is the only current member of the squad still to decide whether to return in 2008.
