In a match charged with emotion; the Ballarat Eureka Strikers farewelled veteran Beth Taylor with a 16-0 victory against Doncaster Rovers.

In her farewell speech at the end of the game; Taylor reflected on the development of the female game in her 23 year playing career. When she started, at the age of 7, she was one of two females playing for her team. As she hangs up her boots; there are two clubs entering female teams in state-wide competition, as well as a local senior female competition and an Under 16 and Under 11 competition.

Then there is the more recent transition; up until recently the Ballarat State League 1 side has been competitive, but it has been on the basis of individual players. What was evident in the Ballarat Eureka Strikers display on Sunday is that they have moved to a new level; where the performance is dictated by the structures of the team rather than individual brilliance. While the game was a rout, it was also a game that displayed discipline; throughout the Eureka Strikers stuck firmly to their tasks within the team.

It looked like the game had got off to a disastrous start; when Jordan Ivey was injured in the opening 30 seconds of the game. In a clumsy clash, the left midfielder injured her ankle and was unable to return to the field of play for the entirety of the match.

It was Ivey’s replacement, Vanessa Yung who opened the scoring in the 5^th minute with a simple tap in at the back post after a cross from Lulu Al-Huneidi. The rest of the half belonged to Alyson Pym; who netted 4; including two within 45 seconds of each other, and set up one for Al-Huneidi.

Leading 6-0 at half time, it would have been easy for the Eureka Strikers to slip into cruise mode or for individual players to try and get in on the scoring. Instead the Eureka Strikers turned up even strong in the second-half; with Nat Barbara scoring the first within a minute of the restart.

Nine further goals were scored in the second-half; with Al-Huneidi scoring another three, to bring her tally for the day to four; Barbara scoring another, an own goal and youngster Molly Esmonde netting one after coming off the bench. Fittingly, Beth Taylor also got in on the act, scoring twice – both from free kicks around the box.

The unifying feature of all of these goals was that they were all the result of good team lead up play; with the impetus for attack starting with the defence and team-wide commitment to attacking with pace by playing a high-quality passing game.

Beth Taylor left the field for the last time in the 89^th minute; to rousing applause of supporters and teammates. At the start of the game she challenged the players to not play for her but to play for the team; the squad rose to the challenge magnificently.

Attention now turns to next week, with an away trip to Cairnlea who are sixth on the ladder. Last time the two sides met Ballarat Eureka Strikers won 6-1 but Cairnlea have improved in recent times and have only lost one of their last 5 games, which was against league leaders Melbourne University.