It was never going to be an easy task for newcomers Mudgeeraba Soccer Club as they took on last season’s runners-up, The Gap Football Club, but few could have foreseen the result would be so definitive.
Travelling south for their season opener, The Gap piled on 17 goals to none in what can only be described as a truly dominant performance.
It was a new look for The Gap with a few senior members leaving at the end of last season and plenty of young talent waiting for the chance to don the gold and purple.
The crowd did not have to wait long for the first of many goals as Sarah Miller applied pressure in the 5th minute to score her first goal of the season. Five minutes later, following a free kick, a sharp Greta Bodey seized an opportunity to score her first goal as well.
Then the flood gates opened and Tiarne Petterwood, in her debut game for The Gap, found the back of the net with accuracy to have a half time hat-trick. Not to be outdone, Bodey found little opposition to her speed also scoring three by the break.
Another debutant in Tiffany Dibley was determined to make her mark scoring just before the half time whistle.
Half time: Mudgeeraba 0 – The Gap 8.
The home team put up more of fight in the second half of the game with goals a little harder to find but Talitha Doro stormed her way through the defence to score at speed.
But come the 80th minute there were holes in Mudgeeraba’s defence and Petterwood took full advantage slotting four more past the courageous keeper as the score keeper struggled to keep up.
Ruth Blackburn got on the scoreboard with a hard-earned goal in the 88th minute.
The Gap kept on pushing forward and applied pressure to an exhausted opposition demonstrating their open style of play.
A solid performance by The Gap and a tremendous debut for Petterwood as she walked away with a haul.
Final score: Mudgeeraba 0 – The Gap 17.
Goals: Petterwood – 12, 27, 45, 80, 82, 89, 90; Bodey – 8, 14, 43, 47; Miller – 5,75; Doro – 51, 58; Dibley – 44; Blackburn – 88.