September 13
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.”
