Point Cook had to withstand a barrage of physicality en route to the Football Federation Victoria women’s state league 3 west premiership.
The Jets were the slickest team in the competition, so other coaches set about trying to unsettle them with rough house tactics.
While the Jets are a young team, they managed to ride the bumps and let their skills do the talking.
The Jets clinched the title with a seven-point buffer and will be promoted to the second tier next season.
“We did take a lot of punishment,” Jets co-coach John Diaz said.
“The girls got kicked a lot because of their speed and their talent.
“We were rapt to come away with the title.”
Point Cook only lost one game for the entire league season.
The Jets were beaten in a final round local derby dead rubber 2-1 by Hoppers Crossing.
Diaz said the Jets decided to rest players for that game in preparation for the state league finals, when they challenge the other league winners.
The Jets did not make it far in the play-offs, getting knocked out at the semi-final phase by undefeated north division champions Moreland Zebras in a 3-2 classic.
“It was a fantastic game,” Diaz said.
“It went into extra time and we made a poor mistake, which cost us the game.”
That loss did nothing to diminish what Point Cook achieved as west champions in 2017.
The Jets had an impressive goal difference of plus-52 with the best defence (12 goals conceded) and second best attacking (64 goals scored) unit.
The adage is that defence wins premierships and this was the case for the Jets, but their new-look front end meshed superbly.
“We ended up with the best defence in the league,” Diaz said.
“Up front, we had some new girls come from different clubs and they helped us a lot with their speed and experience.”
Mya Moran was the star of the show for Point Cook.
The dynamic striker scored a massive 29 goals, despite missing two games through injury and suspension.
“She’s been my top goalscorer I think every year I’ve coached her,” Diaz said.
“Now she’s the league top goalscorer and she even missed two games.
“Her speed and she’s got the eye for a goal.
“Our midfield was good too, they got her the ball into spaces as well.”
Point Cook’s midfield was led by Sophie Plessa, Sofia Orieta and Claire Scerri.
Daniela Matos was the other beneficiary of some fantastic service from the midfield with 11 goals.
Matos finished equal sixth in the league’s golden boot, despite featuring in just 10 games.
“She was fantastic,” Diaz said.
“She didn’t play for over a month because she had trials overseas in Portugal.
“It was a good experience for her to go overseas and try out for a few teams.”
Diaz is three years into a five year plan to get Point Cook to the top tier of the state leagues.
He is confident of returning to the Jets next season.
Meanwhile, the local derby between Point Cook and Hoppers Crossing will live on, after Hoppers were also promoted to state league 2.
The Reds beat Mill Park 6-4 in a scoring frenzy in the semi-final before third-last state league 2 clubs Yarraville Glory accepted relegation by forfeiting their promotion-relegation final against Hoppers, allowing the Reds a safe passage to the second tier.
