CAIRNLEA coach Mus Fehmi is confident his newly promoted team can avoid relegation from the Football Federation Victoria Women’s Premier League and the ‘Camilleri effect’ is a major part of the reason.
The Reds endured a rough start to life in the big league, going winless in the opening eight games, but a bit of line-up tinkering and a bold mid-campaign move for star striker Melanie Camilleri has turned the fortunes around for the Furlong Road club.
“After not winning for eight weeks and to then win three of the next four, you could only imagine what the atmosphere is like now,” Fehmi said ahead of Sunday’s bout with Preston Lions.
“Everyone is upbeat and we feel as though we can compete with any team.”
The Camilleri capture was huge.
The Reds brought in a player with a long affiliation with top-flight football in this state.
Camilleri has won her sport’s triple crown: championship, player of the year and a golden boot.
She is one of the most watchable players in the league and one who youngsters aspire to be like.
“Anyone associated with women’s soccer in Victoria knows Melanie Camilerri,” Fehmi said.
“We got her at the right time because she was a bit flat at Heidelberg. Being a new team, we gave her a new challenge. We’ve got a young squad and her presence lifts them three or four notches.”
The Reds pinpointed two issues which led to the poor start.
The first was a need for goals and Camilleri is filling that void along with Lucrece Laverdure.
The Bundoora recruit, affectionately known as ‘Luda’, scored twice against her former club and is fast becoming a crowd favourite.
“The crowds have fallen in love with her,” Fehmi said.
“She just has an uncanny knack of scoring goals.”
The other part of the problem was a leaking of goals. The Reds were desperate to bring in a dependable sweeper and found Evgenia Avram.
A talented sportswoman, she switched codes after starting the winter playing Australian rules.
“She had the year off and we somehow convinced her to come back to soccer,” Fehmi said.
“She used to play at South Melbourne.”
Fehmi said the inclusions of the three experienced players had helped his team no end.
Established attackers, Tijen Hussein and Kara Theodorou, who played a major part in the Reds achieving three consecutive promotions to land in the Premier League, are benefiting from better quality service.
“Our aim at the start of the season was to avoid relegation and it still is,” Fehmi said.
