Flying Kiwis – The All Hail Rebekah Stott Edition
And with that we cap one of the all time great W-League seasons from Melbourne City and one of the all-time great Flying Kiwis runs as well from Rebekah Stott. To be fair she does this every year with Melly City... but these last few months have been one some whole other buzz. Stott’s lot were dominant throughout. Undefeated the entire way, drew just one game and it was their season opener before Rebekah Stott had arrived after her campaign in Norway with Avaldsnes. They barely conceded a goal in the process. It was something special.
Last week they absolutely bossed their way through their semi-final against Western Sydney Wanderers, winning it 5-1 with even Stotty getting on the scoresheet. For the grand final they met Sydney FC at an empty AAMI Park, not much doubt that these were the two best teams over the course of the full season, especially not after Sydney FC withstood a second half barrage to hold on and beat Melbourne Victory 1-0 in their semi-final (knocking Annalie Longo out in the process)... however Sydney losing Caitlin Foord and Chloe Logarzo to English Super League contracts midseason (Logarzo going to Bristol City to partner Olivia Chance in the midfield, Foord to Arsenal) did tip the scales even more in the favour of City.
Sure enough, City took the lead right on fifteen minutes. Steph Catley has been superb down the left side of the park all season, setting up goal after goal including two in the semi-final, though this time she chose to shoot after getting into the box with a one-two from Emily van Egmond and her shot snuck in after Sydney keeper Aubrey Bledoe failed to parry it clear. Extremely uncharacteristic from a goalie who is a regular in USA national team squads and was the NWSL keeper of the year in 2019 with Washington Spirit but there you go. The big games have a way of amplifying those errors, even sometimes for the best of them.
But that first goal was enormous. It always is in a final yet with Sydney having lost Foord and Logarzo they didn’t have much of a choice but to set themselves up to try and contain Melbourne City so to fall behind as early as they did kinda messed that up, especially having started pretty well. It should then have been 2-0 on the half hour as in-form Scottish forward Claire Emslie got onto a loose back pass but she couldn’t guide the ball past Bledsoe, who somewhat made up for the earlier error there. Minutes later Kyah Simon overhit a cross that ended up bouncing clear off the crossbar. City still 1-0 up at the break.
After which Sydney had their best chance of the contest (other than a handball shout against Catley late in the first stanza but no VAR so no go there). Veronika Latsko it was who got a shot off on the bounce which GK Lydia Williams managed to parry over and then Ellie Carpenter got across to clear it almost off the line. The key moments all falling City’s way, it seems. That tends not to be a coincidence with the top teams though.
Kyah Simon nearly added another soon after as a superb move put her through but her shot was just wide. Sydney did the same after 79 mins when Princess Ibini couldn’t pick out the corner with her shot. This game never did offer another goal. The two defences were too good, the spare chances weren’t taken... and that early Steph Catley goal was the difference as Melbourne City claimed a record fourth W-League title.
So to sum it up here, Melbourne City played 12 regular season games, winning 11 of them and drawing one. Then won both their semi and the grand final. They were undefeated the entire way, scoring 33 goals in 14 games and conceding just... wait for it... five. Only five goals conceded and never more than one in any single game. At one point they went a remarkable 729 minutes without letting a goal in which was agonisingly just two minutes shy of equalling their own W-League record. They confirmed the premiers shield with almost two rounds still remaining (they were the first game of the penultimate round) and have ended the season on a 13-game winning streak. Nine clean sheets, the last of which coming in the grand final where they got to lift the championship trophy. Pretty comprehensive.
Righto but what about Rebekah Stott? Well she missed two of those games: the 1-1 draw vs Newcastle Jets before she’d gotten her transfer through and then the last game of the regular season where the clean sheet streak was broken, a 3-1 win over Brisbane. Other than that she played every available second for Melly City who won every game in which she played and conceded a mere three times in 1080 minutes. Her combination within a back three that also featured Emma Checker and Lauren Barnes was the next thing to flawless. Stott didn’t pick up a single yellow card this season and the sight of her pushing up into midfield, usually with a mazy dribble, became a popular sight for City fans. As it should, those runs are golden.
Stott also scored twice and added an assist. One of those goals the only strike in a 1-0 win over Perth, the other coming in the semi-final. Here they both are...
And that’s without getting to the accolades as well. How’s this for a list...
W-League Team of the Week Round 2
W-League Team of the Week Round 3
W-League Team of the Week Round 8
W-League Team of the Week Round 9
W-League Team of the Week Round 10
Nominated for Player of the Month in December
Nominated for Player of the Month in January
Not bad. Not bad at all. In fact tell ya what might paint an even better picture of her season is if we chuck in all the little blurbs from the competition website that accompanied each of the five Team of the Week selections, here we go...
Round 2: “The experienced New Zealand international showed her quality in spades in Sunday's 2-1 win against Canberra in the nation's capital. Stott led the team in touches, with 98, and passes, with 77, as City controlled 67% off possession. She launched City's attacks as they built from the back, dictating the shape and tempo of their build-up play. The 26-year-old also led the team in tackles (six), tackles won (five), duels won (nine), interceptions (six) and she did not concede a single foul. A complete defensive masterclass on and off the ball.”
Round 3: “The Kiwi central defender was crucial to City in a leading backline role to that not only delivered the title-aspirants their first win at home of the season – but their first clean sheet of the campaign as well. She proved a step ahead of the Adelaide United attackers to constantly foil their attempts to get in behind the City lines, while also proving a crucial link in the quick transitions to put their opponents on the back foot.”
Round 8: “Another fine display from the New Zealand international earned City a hard-fought 2-0 win over Brisbane Roar last Thursday night. The lynchpin of her side's defensive formation, Stott ensured City held firm as Brisbane threw everything at the leaders. She cleaned up with four tackles, eight duels and a huge six interceptions en route to a third consecutive clean sheet.”
Round 9: “Stott showed once again why she is one of the dominant figures in the Westfield W-League, and a key reason why Melbourne City have conceded only three goals in eight matches and have gone more than 400 minutes without leaking a goal. The Kiwi stopper tied a team-high six winning duels from the eight she contested and racked up three clearances as the Green Machine looked to catch the league leaders on the counter attack on Thursday night.”
Round 10: “The Kiwi international was irrepressible in defence for City as they notched a fifth straight clean sheet in their win over Newcastle Jets. The 26-year-old led the match returns both on the ball - notching 116 touches and 94 passes – and off the ball, winning four tackles and 13 duels in her 90 minute performance. She capped off her performance by laying on the assist for Emily van Egmond’s second-half goal.”
This level of success is nothing new for Rebekah Stott. As an inaugural Melbourne City player going back to 2015 she’s played the last five seasons with them and been there as they’ve lifted all four of their championships. Yup, four ‘ships in five years. And she was a starter in a losing grand final effort the season before she joined City with their crosstown rivals Melbourne Victory so this was her fifth final. Steph Catley played that one too so those two go way back... 82 of Stott’s 87 total W-League games have come with Catley in the same team.
Too good. Kiwi participation in the W-League is actually kinda slim, only 17 New Zealanders have played in this comp before with Annalie Longo the only other kiwi out there this latest season... but amidst that drought Rebekah Stott just year after year locks it down with pure excellence and this latest campaign was probably the best of the lot. Having said that, it may also be her last for a while.
Stott spent a few years in the USA playing in a competition where the season aligns with the Aussie one and a large portion of international players here are Yanks (23 foreign players this season from USA, no other country had more than two representatives: Aotearoa and Brazil). Same deal goes for the Norwegian league which also runs year on year. But in a recent chat with Locker Room Stotty mentioned that she’d be keen on, after the Olympics, heading to Europe to have a crack at some of the top leagues out there. France, Spain, England, etc. That’d mean her season would clash with W-League possibilities, not that you could blame her for wanting to spread her wings. At 26 years old she’s come into the prime of her career so now is the time to do it.
Obviously there’s some confusion as to what’ll happen with those Olympics and whatever does happen will affect the Football Ferns in a number of ways – for one thing Tom Sermanni’s contract runs out mid-2020 so if the Ollies are delayed ‘til 2021, as they honestly should be at this point, then who knows? But that’s the case with so many things at the moment. The future is unwritten, we’ll come to those stories when it’s time. Right now it’s all about basking in what Stotty just achieved because... well, you read the article, you know what’s up.
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