NICHOLS Point Soccer Club’s ascendency in winning Sunday’s S-League Senior Women’s grand final made the unexpected victory even sweeter.
Three months ago, the Pointers were on the end of an 11-0 defeat at the hands of Mildura City.
It meant a 13-goal turnaround at the weekend when they stunned the very same opponents 2-0 in the decider.
A brace from Ellie Pitt and a commanding performance from goalkeeper Christine Cottrell, who was named best on ground, led to a seemingly surprising victory for the Point against a City said that lost a solitary match across the 2022 campaign.
Skipper and league best-and-fairest winner Isabella Gove said she was “so proud” of her team.
“It was amazing, maybe a bit unexpected, but I felt it was well-deserved for the effort we put in,” she said.
“We had lost every game to Mildura City this year, so it’s a testament to how much we improved and I couldn’t be prouder of the girls.
“We went into the game really positive and basically made sure we gave our all for the entire game. Ellie’s two goals in the first half were amazing, and maybe that put City on the back foot a bit.
“It was a great second half against a really good team, and I had so many people complementing to me how good of a game it was to watch.”
A change in formation worked wonders for the underdogs, as City were held scoreless for the first time this year.
“There have been some big celebrations at the club, and we’re really just savouring it all at the moment,” Gove said.
The dominant men’s side of the past few seasons, Mildura City, celebrated a come-from-behind win to secure the grand final over Irymple Knights.
Inspired by the efforts of joint coach Lukas Pedder, City turned a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 victory, thanks to a scintillating 25 minutes.
Justin Lamattina’s 14th-minute strike came just four minutes after Ashley Joseph opened the scoring for the Knights, then Byron Jolley gave Irymple the lead 10 minutes into the second half.
An 11-minute spell from City, however, would see Pedder, Nicolas Woods and Christian Pollifrone all hit the back of the net, before youngster Taylan Karakurt put the icing on the cake in the dying minutes.
Co-coach George Moraitis said it was an “emotional” victory for the side.
“It’s happened to us the last three games, we’ve needed to come from behind,” he said.
“I think being so good for the past couple of years and this being the first grand final since 2019, it felt like it was our time to take a grasp on it. You never know how many chances you are going to get.
“The consistency of our boys across the season, knowing they can come back and win from any position, really served us well.
“Lukas really led from the front and when the boys saw the way he was playing, I think it inspired them to follow his lead.”
Mildura City featured in every grand final bar one, also winning the Reserve Men’s, Under 16 boys and Under 16 girls grand finals.
The Pointers also took out the Under 14 and Under 13 girls games, Irymple Knights won the Over-35s and Three Colours took victory in Under 12s.
