14 Girls | Camden 0 – 3 South Coast Flame

The girls finished the season in emphatic style with a dominant display over the leagues second placed side.

The game started with both sides taking some time to adapt to the conditions on a hard pitch that has seen a lot of use over this elongated season. But it did not take long for the Flame girls to show Camden just how much they had improved since the sides last met, with some good combination play in midfield between Jess Llewellin and Belen Collazo-Pazos leading to the latter, taking on her opposite number and slipping a well weighted pass in behind to the onrushing Alivia Beath who sent the keeper the wrong way and fired home at the near post.
The dominance continued and the chances kept flowing for the South Coast girls. They found themselves with a fee kick 25 yards from goal, Carly Johnson stepped up and showed off her ability to strike a dead ball, firing into the top right corner, leaving the keeper grasping at thin air.
HT: Camden Tigers 0-2 South Coast Flame

The girls came out in the second half with intent to prove that they hadn’t taken their foot off the gas despite the marathon season. Camden struggled to cope with the high press on display by the South Coast Flame. The pressure lead to error after error from the Tigers back line and eventually resulted in a free kick 10 yards inside the left sideline. Despite the angle working against her, Johnson only had one thing on her mind after the earlier set piece and executed with precision, finding the top right corner once again. With 15 minutes to play the Flame were on fire and realistically could of had 3 or 4 more. Sam Shallcross continued her impressive run in and her creativity in the final third and became the key to unlocking the Camden defense. On another day she may have had a hat trick but to the Camden keepers credit. She held her own and kept the scoreline at a much more respectable value.
FT: Camden Tigers 0-3 South Coast Flame

The girls finish the season in 3rd place after a really impressive return to league competition. The improvement has been plain for all to see as the girls got the full 3 points against undefeated Hills FC and second placed Camden with a dominant 3-0 win. It begs the question of what could have been if a finals series were to go ahead.

A final big thank you to all the players from the younger age groups who at times had to play much more than what they were expecting. The resilience this young group of players have shown is really pleasing to see. The future is looking bright for the girls at the South Coast Flame.

Player of the Week | Carly Johnson – Carly took time to ask and learn about different techniques when taking set pieces over the previous few weeks and her persistence was rewarded with two stunning goals on game day. Her range of passing and control of the back line ensured that Camden had very few chances and the girls kept a clean sheet on the final day.

15 Girls | Camden 2 – 2 South Coast Flame

The last game of the season saw Flame head to Camden for the third time this season to try and keep their undefeated season intact against an always strong Tigers outfit.

South Coast started well, creating some great combinations in wide areas and exploiting the high defensive line of Camden with ease. Lauren Brooks had two good chances in front of goal, only for the goal keeper and some last ditch defending to come to Camden’s rescue. Against the run of play, an error at the back gifted the Tigers striker a 1 v 1 opportunity who made no mistake and slammed the ball into the roof of the net to give Tigers a 1 nil lead.

Their lead lasted seven minutes when Lauren Brooks found some room in the box after beating two defenders, placing it past the oncoming goalkeeper to level the score.

The remainder of the half ebbed and flowed with both teams attacking with numbers and leaving themselves open to the counter attack but with some good goalkeeping at both ends, the score remained 1-1 at the half time break.

Flame started the second half the stronger, creating some good chances through Natasha Duckinoski and Hayley Cowie, both seeing shots fly wide of the post.
The following fifteen minutes was a struggle for the Flame as they got pinned into their half with some physical Tigers challenges and some questionable refereeing decisions resulting in the Flame captain being sin binned and being forced to play with 10 players. As Cowie returned to the field, she was able to find a soaring through ball to Lauren Brooks who took her defender on and slotted past the goal keeper to give South Coast a 2 – 1 lead with 10 minutes to go.

The tides would turn in Camdens way again, as the referee showed a red card to Flame goalkeeper for a mistimed challenge outside the penalty area, sending us down to 10 players for the second time in the game. Alyssa Nickovska stepped up and threw the gloves on for the remaining 8 minutes in a courageous display. Unfortunately, Flame would not hold on with 3 minutes to go, another Tigers free kick found it’s way to the edge of the area and the resulting shot looping over Nickovska and into the side netting to end the game in a 2 – 2 draw.

A massive congratulations to the South Coast Flame girls who competed against an overly-physical Camden team, being sent down to 10 players twice and still played with courage, integrity and respect.

Player of the Week | Ruby Blanch – Ruby has shown great leadership and support this season, often helping her less experienced teammates on game day and in training. Against Camden Tigers, Ruby was composed, physical and was effective at both ends of the field in her less favored right fullback position. Great work Ruby!

17 Girls | Camden 2 – 4 South Coast Flame

Heading into this game the girls knew that a win would see them win the league title at the end of the 10 round abbreviated season.

From the opening it was clear to see that we had no intention of letting this game slip. Our was sharp as was our movement off the ball, while our discipline in holding our defensive shape made it difficult for Camden to get out of their end.

After 15 minutes of pressure, birthday girl Emily Franklin was rewarded with the opening goal. We remained focussed and created a number of good chances with Caitlyn Zamuner, Brooke Love and Sariah Wilson all going close. Shortly before halftime, it was a case of third time lucky for Wilson who got over the ball from 25 yards and buried an unstoppable low shot.

Despite a good start to the second half we gave failed to deal with a lofted free kick into the area and conceded shortly after the interval. We didn’t have to wait long for a response though and after some excellent build up play Erin DeLazzari found herself in behind the defensive line. DeLazzari hit a pinpoint low cross to her strike partner Franklin who volleyed in from close range. The Flame got their fourth goal courtesy of an OG from a corner soon after, and despite conceding via a late penalty the game was over as a contest.

A really pleasing performance to round off the season, and a well deserved league title for a great group of girls.

Player of the Week | Emily Franklin – Emily didn’t let the fact that it was her birthday distract her and led the line with intent from the outset. With consistent good service from her midfield, she used her pace and strength to terrorise the Camden defence, and was rewarded with a brace. Over the past three games, Emily has scored 6 goals to finish as the team’s leading scorer for the season. Congratulations on finishing a great year in style Em.