Shepparton United’s senior women’s team has kicked off the new season, taking part in its first competitive match of 2023 at the weekend.
United faced off against Collingwood City on Sunday afternoon at McEwen Reserve Shepparton in round one of the Nike FC Cup.
But unfortunately for United it was eliminated in the opening round of the statewide knockout competition after falling to the Magpies 2-1.
Trailing 1-0, United’s Olivia Saron brought her side level, before Collingwood hit the front again with two minutes left in the match that ultimately sent it through to round two.
Jean-Claude Giuca, the new senior women’s coach at United, said he thought his side played well enough to win the game, but just couldn’t make the most of its chances.
“Performance-wise, I think the scoreline wasn’t a true indicator of the actual game,” Giuca said.
“They capitalised on their opportunities and we didn’t. As far as I’m concerned, the performance was excellent. It was what we wanted to see.
“The Nike FC Cup is a tough competition. At the end of the day, we did ourselves justice.
“We didn’t capitalise on some of our opportunities, but apart from that, we are progressing well as a team. The style that we want to play is nice, attacking football and that was evident on game day.”
With United behind by a goal, Giuca said Saron’s equaliser came after some smooth attacking play in the midfield.
“It was good combination play through the midfield. We came out wide and then centred the ball to Olivia. She bamboozled one or two defenders and had her shot and it went into the back of the net,” he said.
Late in the game with the score tied, United had a golden opportunity to take the lead.
A shot bounced off the crossbar, but the follow-up effort off the rebound went wide of the goal.
Moments later, Collingwood went on to score the winning goal down the other end.
“We deserved to go through, but that’s football,” Giuca said.
Despite being knocked out of the competition, Shepparton United has still played its part in Nike FC Cup history.
First contested in 2012, 101 clubs entered the competition this year – the most in the tournament’s history.
More than 40 teams faced off in round one alone, with clubs from State League 5 all the way to the top tier NPL competing.
United’s attention will now turn to the home and away season, with Giuca anticipating a strong year on the pitch for United.
“We have picked up a few more senior players and it is going to be a very exciting year,” he said.
Giuca has lived in Shepparton for more than 25 years and brings a wealth of football experience to United as the women’s coach.
He began his coaching career with Moreland Zebras, also spending time at the helm of Moreland City and Melbourne University.
Later, he was the head coach and technical director at Heidelberg United, shifting to Avondale before returning to Shepparton United this season.