Report by Peter Simcox

The Redbacks led 3-0 at the break with a double from Demi Vance and one from her strike partner Renee Leota before Carla Bennett and Jacinta Coleman wrapped up the scoring after the break.

Redbacks coach Conrad McKelvie said it was great team performance from his side.

“All season Melville has been a tough team to play against and we were prepared for that today,” he said.

“But we know if we stuck to our game plan our quality would shine through and testament to the girls they really worked hard today.

“Renee and Demi were a real handful up front and our defence, like it has been all season, were fantastic.”

The coach was a little coy when asked about adding the league title to their cup success next week with his side needing a win against Balcatta to do the double.

“I don’t want to talk about it yet, we still have a job to do next week here against Balcatta,” he said.

“They gave us a real test in the cup semi-final and they have really improved this season, so we have to make sure we’re up for it next week but we’ll enjoy today first.”

Vance, who won the Sandra Brentall medal for best player on ground, said they knew it would be tight start.

“We knew they (Melville) would be up for the game and we knew it would be tough early,” she said. “But we were on our game from the first whistle and we put in a great team performance.”

“We’ve trained hard this week and worked on few things and fortunately that came off for us today.”

It was tight opening with chances few and far between as both sides jostled for supremacy.

Vance’s long-range shot flew wide early for the Redbacks before Melville’s Lucy Jerram’s shot was saved low by Kathleen Waycott.

The first real chance fell to the Redbacks on 19 minutes. Vance raced clear after a slip by a Melville defender but Evie Gooch stood tall to deny her.

But on the half hour Redbacks’ pressure was rewarded with the lead.

A poor clearance from Gooch went straight to Vance, the Melville custodian raced out to try and recover the ball but Vance got there first and rolled home from 25m.

Tia Stonehill was a constant threat for the Redbacks and she went close to an equaliser five minutes later, her shot on the run was saved low by Waycott.

Vance caused problems for the Melville defence all afternoon and she turned supplier as they added a second on 38 minutes.

She raced clear down the right before cutting the ball back to Leota at the back post and the former New Zealand international made no mistake.

The Redbacks were well on top and Leota blazed over from 6m but in stoppage time their pressure was rewarded with a third, Vance’s corner sneaking in at the near post.

It was more of the same after the break with Larissa Walsh’s shot well-saved by Gooch before Bennett shot straight at the Melville keeper.

Melville weren’t giving up without a fight and Mikayla Lyons long-range shot was saved by Waycott, and the Redbacks custodian then had to be alert to deny Zoe Yao’s shot moments later.

But the Redbacks hit back and on 78 minutes they added a fourth. Lauren Riley sent Bennett racing clear and she finished clinically past Gooch.

It was 5-0 three minutes from time, Coleman heading home from a corner to seal a comprehensive victory.

Melville City 0
Northern Redbacks 5 (Vance 30 Mins, 45+2, Leota 38, Bennett 78, Coleman 87)
Sunday September 4, 2016
Grindleford Reserve, Balcatta
Referee: Steve Muldoon
Assistants: Jessica Bird and Rebecca Craigs
Fourth official: John Westmerland

Melville City: GK Evie GOOCH,4 Tia STONEHILL, 5 Shannen PINK, 7 Steph SIMMONDS, 8 Evie MARCHETTI, 12 Lucy JERRAM, 15 Laura WALTMAN, 16 Piper BOOBYER, 19 Jamie DUNCANSON, 20 Issy BRIDGER, 21 Kelsey LYONS, 31 Grace SMITH, 34 Mikayla LYONS, 39 Zoe YAO

Northern Redbacks: GK Kathleen WAYCOTT, 2 Jessica WHEATMAN, 3 Larissa WALSH, 4 Nicola WILLIAMS, 5 Eleanor BLACKMORE, 6 Carla BENNETT, 7 Lauren RILEY, 8 Demi VANCE, 9 Chloe ALAGA, 10 Jacinta COLEMAN, 11 Emily DUNN, 12 Shawn BILLAM, 14 Renee LEOTA, 15 Emily HENDERSON, 16 Nadene CALDWELL, 17 Jade KLEPPE