BALLARAT Lady Devils have climbed into seventh spot on the Football Federation Victoria women’s state league one ladder.
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The leap in positioning comes on the back of the club’s stellar 1-0 victory over Berwick City in round 11 action at Morshead Park on Sunday.
Ballarat Scrap Metal Lady Devil Lulu Al-Huneidi scored the only goal of the match via way of a brilliant left-footed strike from outside the 18-yard box at the 42-minute mark of the match.
However, the win was soured by the loss of senior Lady Devil Beth Taylor, who left the pitch after 25 minutes with a suspected groin injury.
Lady Devils coach Rick Romein says the win is confirmation of his side’s recently improved form.
“We’ve been playing pretty good soccer in the last few weeks and the momentum has just gone forward with us,” Romein said.
“We defended very well and we were probably unlucky not to get a few more goals, to be honest.”
Romein was quick to praise the efforts of central midfielder Tessa Curtain, who has shown steady improvement since returning from long-term injury.
Also impressive in the win was Al-Huneidi’s forward counterpart Alyson Pym and the back four of Tarryn Harris, Hannah Kozaris, Natalie Barbara and Tess Meaden.
The Lady Devils expect to find out the true nature of Taylor’s injury on Tuesday.
Romein has also heaped praise on the culture of all three playing sides in the seniors, development squad and under-16s.
However, the coach says the playing list is still stretched thin and advises anyone interested in playing for the Lady Reds to contact the club.
“Our culture of the group this year has been fantastic,” he said.
“But there one thing is that there’s a perception that girls (in Ballarat) simply aren’t good enough for the Lady Devils and that’s just not the case.”
Meanwhile, Ballarat’s development squad missed a host of opportunities in its 1-0 loss to City, while the Reds’ under-16 side was thrashed 8-0 by a rampant Sandringham at Brighton Grammar.
The Lady Devils now turn their attention to next week’s away fixtures against South Yarra and Heidelberg.
South Yarra sits third on the women’s state league one ladder while Heidelberg also tracks in third spot in the FFV girls’ metropolitan 15-16A standings.
michael.pollock@fairfaxmedia.com.au