By Chris Curulli
There was late drama aplenty at Beacon Hill Oval on Sunday afternoon as a gusty Brookvale performance saw them snatch a 2-1 victory over Beacon Hill.
The first half saw a tight battle unfold, with a solid defensive display from both outfits keeping clear-cut chances to a minimum.
However as a storm rolled in and rain heaped down on the players and spectators, the game sprung to life with less than 20 minutes to play.
The deadlock was broken as Brookvale’s Michelle Sym was played through on goal and unleashed a venomous strike that was too powerful for the goalkeeper to keep out.
Just three minutes later, the visitors doubled their advantage as Isabella Huggins pounced on a loose ball in the box to convert from close range.
But just as Brookvale looked to have established some breathing room, their goalkeeper was shown a straight red card for an infringement in the penalty area.
With no shot-stopper in reserve, they were forced to place an outfield player in goals, and Annelise Allan made no mistake from the spot to pull one back for Beacon Hill and set up a grandstand finish.
Despite a late onslaught from the hosts, a young Brookvale side held on courageously to secure their second straight win this season.
Their coach Michael Cimino was impressed with the outcome, especially considering that a number of his squad were absent due to injury.
“We’ve got a fairly new team and the girls have just been working on playing the ball around because we don’t really have a lot of experience in our squad,” he said.
“But I feel that we’ve done a pretty good job these first two rounds, overall the girls have shown how they really want to play which is a good thing.
“We’ve trained hard and we’re slowly getting the results that we want.
“We’re also dealing with a lot of injuries at the moment, but we just have to keep rolling on and putting in the same amount of effort every week.”
In other results, Manly Vale cruised to a 5-1 victory over Pittwater, while a pair of draws saw Mosman and Wakehurst tie 1-1 and Seaforth versus Manly Allambie finish scoreless.
