The points were shared in the second Melbourne Derby of the A-League Women’s season, a scoreless draw played out in Bundoora on Sunday.
Clear-cut chances were at a premium on a warm afternoon that ultimately ended in a pretty fair result.
Team News
Dario Vidosic made two changes to his starting XI from last weekend’s win over Newcastle Jets.
Rhianna Pollicina copped a knock in training and was left out as a precaution, which meant 15-year-old Shelby McMahon came into the line-up for her first senior start.
Leticia McKenna also returned to the line-up for what was her 50th Club appearance, replacing Kiera Meyers on the wing.
Starting XI: 88. BARBARA, 22. Bryleeh HENRY, 5. Taylor OTTO, 13. Rebekah STOTT (C), 16. Karly ROESTBAKKEN, 14. Laura HUGHES, 18. Leah DAVIDSON, 12. Shelby McMAHON, 11. Emina EKIC, 6. Leticia McKENNA, 17. Hannah WILKINSON.
Substitutes: 23. Melissa BARBIERI (GK), 2. Leia VARLEY, 7. Julia GROSSO, 15. Kiera MEYERS, 21. Isabella ACCARDO.
What happened?
The contest got off to a relatively even start with some transitional football played although neither side could fashion any real scoring chances early.
Emina Ekic flashed a ball across the box in the 17th minute but there was no teammate able to meet it at the back-post to put away the dangerous cross.
The first proper shot of the day would eventually come just after the half hour mark, with Emily Gielnik shooting over the bar and not troubling Barbara.
City looked best attacking down the left-hand side throughout the first half, Ekic causing plenty of problems for the Victory defence while McMahon had some nice moments in build-up play.
The best chance of the half would fall to Victory right before the break, Jamilla Rankin firing into the crossbar and ensuring we went into the sheds scoreless.
Continuing on from a busy first half, Ekic rattled the crossbar just five minutes into the second to fire off an early warning sign.
She was searching for Hannah Wilkinson just before the hour mark, but the two star attackers weren’t quite on the same page as the ball ran just wide of the far post.
Both sides found it difficult to fashion any kind of clear-cut chances as the defences held up strongly at both ends of the park.
Laura Hughes was brilliant in midfield all day and struck from distance late but wasn’t able to trouble Courtney Newbon – as was the case for Wilkinson a minute later.
Seven minutes of stoppage time was added but despite the best efforts of both sides, a winner couldn’t be found.
What’s next?
We’ll return home to City Football Academy next Saturday, set to host Central Coast Mariners in a 4pm kick off for our final home fixture of the season.
