Tara Murray
Calder United remains the undisputed champions of the National Premier League Women’s competition as they made it three titles for the season.
Having won the Nike F.C Cup and then the title for finishing on top of the NPLW ladder, Calder faced the Bulleen Lions in the NPLW grand final on Sunday.
They would put the icing on the cake of their season, winning 2-0.
Calder coach Mark Torcaso said after the game he was in disbelief at what they had been able to achieve.
“I’m still trying to work out if we had won it or if it was a dream,” he said.
“I just told them to take it in their stride and focus on the opportunity to play in a grand final”
Calder came out the better of the two teams and hit the lead in the 16th minute through Alana Crene.
After a quiet 10 minutes heading into half time, they stepped it up in the second half. A second goal to Mel Taranto in the 75th minute was enough to seal the win for Calder.
Torcaso said the margin could have easily been a lot larger.
“We deserved to win,” he said. “We hit the crossbar and the post.
“We just ran away with it in the second half.”
The nature of the win meant that many of their youngsters got another opportunity to step out on the big stage, which was their focus this year.
He said some of the experienced players like Aleks Sinclair, Natasha Dakic, Mel Taranto were some of the others to stand out
Julia Sardo was another one to play well and was named player of the final.
For Torcaso to have the season they had was not what they expected pre-season despite the recent success of the club.
The club decided to promote a number of younger players this season and it was a move that paid off in spades.
“I’m eating my words now,” he said having said they weren’t aiming high this season.
“We lost three really important front players, which meant we changed the way that we needed to play.
“We didn’t concede many goals at all. We adjusted our tactics and we looked to protect the younger ones and give them the opportunity when it was there.”
While the Calder season has come to an end, Torcaso doesn’t have long to rest.
As Western United’s first A-League Women’s coach, he and several of the playing group, who have signed with Western United, will be back in action in a couple of weeks time.
Torcaso said he hopes this isn’t the last of his involvement at Calder.
“I want to stay involved,” he said. “There are bigger fish to fry but the aim is to stay involved.
“There is a bit of an overlap between the two seasons. I would like to coach, but we’ll see what happens.”
