Sale United Football Club progressed to Round 2 of the Nike FC Cup following the Swanettes’ 4-2 win over Latrobe Valley Soccer League opponents Fortuna 60 Soccer Club in Round 1.

The day was Sunday, the opponent, St Albans Saints Dinamo Soccer Club, and the Swanettes entered the field with little knowledge about their Nike FC Cup Round 2 rivals, other than they are a State League 2 side from Melbourne.

Clouds covered the sky above the Godfrey Baldwin reserve, and a cool breeze whistled across the pitch – a contrast yet welcomed condition from last week’s 36-degree swelter.

The Swanttes were escorted onto the pitch by Sale’s youngest players, and a boisterous Sale crowd cheered as SUFC’s women took the field.

Formalities done, the referee blew his whistle, and teams took their starting positions; win and progress to Round 3, lose, your Nike FC Cup campaign is over.

Sale knew they had to go hard from the start.

Hard they went.

SUFC pressed an unsuspecting St Albans, creating early chances to take the lead but were unsuccessful in finding the back of the net.

Sale United playing coach Madelaine Breakspear scored the opening goal, putting the Swanettes at a 1-0 lead over their metropolitan opponents.

Returning to the field after a brief hiatus, Sale’s right winger Hollie Ryan found the back of the net to extend the Swanettes’ lead 2-0.

A controversial offside call disallowed a goal by young gun striker Dani Wilson, squandering Sale’s chances to take a 3-0 lead 30 minutes into the first half.

A goal to St Albans before the break saw Sale’s lead shortened, the score 2-1 as teams retired to the change rooms.

Clasping at a small lead, the Swanettes knew the game was far from over; they knew they had to give it their all over the next 45 minutes if they wanted to continue their State Knockout Cup campaign.

Breaths were caught, deep heat was lathered on, bruised ankles were taped, sweaty red-cheeked faces were wiped clean, and the Swans returned to the pitch ready to put up the fight of their life.

St Albans equalised early, but the Swanettes were not about to give up; with the raucous crowd behind them and their teammates on the bench rallying them on, the women donning green made a guttural effort to regain the lead, pressing their rival’s defensive line with speed and tenaciously defending, putting bodies on the line in the process.

Sale forward Soreti Anderson was fouled in the centre of the box as she reached a through ball from midfield, and the Swanettes were awarded a penalty; this was it; this was Sale’s chance to reclaim the hard-fought game.

Anderson lined up and took her shot, but the referee was yet to blow his whistle. The ball collided with the St Albans keeper’s chest but was quickly returned to the penalty spot, this time Anderson waiting for the whistle’s blow.

Fweet.

Blocking out the jeers from her metropolitan rivals, Anderson took a breath, positioned her body and placed the ball to the keeper’s left, collecting in the white net as the Sale United Football Club grounds simultaneously erupted in cheers.

Sale United FC, 3, St Albans 2.

Twenty minutes remained, and as cramps plagued Sale players, it was time to park the bus.

Twenty minutes. Twenty minutes. Twenty minutes.

Every ball was hotly contested as an aggravated St Albans attempted to score an equaliser, but Sale was unwavering; the Swanettes took every hard hit from their metropolitan rivals, who, one can only assume, being several leagues above Sale, expected an easy win.

Fifteen minutes, 10 minutes, five minutes, two minutes, one; that’s the game done.

Green strips congregated on the park, teammates wrapping exhausted arms around one another as the Swanettes celebrated Sale United Football Club’s 3-2 victory.

“Going in today, we had no idea what to expect,” Breakspear said.

“Romi [Bitar – SUFC women’s assistant coach] and I were like “We don’t even know what to prepare for” because normally we know our opposition.

“But I think that worked in our favour as well; being from a country league, like a regional area, they probably had no idea what to expect from us either.”

Breakspear praised her team’s efforts, their no-fear attitude, and early dominance of play, in which Sale produced a stellar first half.

“We had a ripper first half; we had so many chances on goal,” Breakspear said.

“In that first half, we were just attacking that goal; what we worked on at training was connecting that midfield to our forward line, especially our striker; I think we did that perfectly and just really good combinations throughout the whole field.

“It was a really good team display; everyone played their part whether they played the whole game, whether they played half, five, 10, whatever it was, they all put in when they were on there, in particular, Zoe Askew, she was an absolute machine, and some of the young ones really stepped up like Dani Wilson, Hollie Ryan, they were just running their guts out.”

Sale United Football Club will play either Caroline Springs George Cross Football Club in Round 3 of the Nike FC Cup at home on Saturday.