Baker cooking up a storm

Playing in a Grand Final for many stays just a dream, playing a grand final at the age of 16 sounds far fetched.

For Jordan Baker it isn’t as she lines up this weekend for the Illawarra Stingrays against the Marconi Stallions at Blacktown Football Park in the NSW Women’s Premier League grand final.

Baker started the season playing in the reserves team at the Stingrays, but good performances saw her propelled into the first team. She scored 14 goals in the first half of the season for the reserves that saw a first grade call up imminent. It didn’t take her long to adjust; she bettered her tally, scoring 15 goals for the first grade team!

At the start of the season, Baker says the team set themselves specific goals.

“The teams main aim was to make the semi finals and to make the grand final for the 5th consecutive year.”

They achieved this with a tight victory over the Macarthur Rams on Sunday afternoon.

“The game against Macarthur wasn’t one of our greatest games as a team but I felt as though we were still the stronger side on the day and in the end it showed. When Macarthur scored to even it up at 2-2 the whole team dug in that little deeper to show our fighting spirit and come away with an amazing win that all the girls and Brett were especially proud of.”

Baker added to her tally of goals for first grade this season scoring a brace and helping her team reach the final.

“Obviously scoring one goal is fantastic but to score two I was absolutely ecstatic. The feeling you get to score is amazing but it made it so much better knowing that it helped us get one more step closer to clenching that grand final spot against Marconi.”

The Stingrays were comfortably beaten by the Marconi Stallions in the major semi final 5-1, but Baker says it was just a bad day.

“The loss to the Stallions was obviously devastating but the score line definitely didn’t show the amount of work the girls put in on the day.”

An early injury to Caitlyn Cooper forced a reshuffle in the ranks forcing Michelle Carney to sit back deeper. Things then got worse as Caitlyn Denyi was forced off with a horrid ACL tear. Just when the Stingrays thought they were dealt their biggest blow, Kristen Lee received her marching orders.

“I don’t believe we played bad on the day, I just believe we were very unlucky with injuries and send offs. We were relatively even with the stallions at the half time break. The team still showed a lot of passion and we fought till the final whistle blew.”

This season, the teams have met on 3 occasions. The Stingrays haven’t registered a win yet with two losses and a draw.

“We wont give up and we will fight till the very end. We show a lot of passion when we play and the experience in the team, along with the young one’s rising up to the occasion make us even stronger. It will be a great game to play and I believe we have a massive chance to finally beat the Stallions.“

The Stingrays lost the minor premiership in unusual circumstances. The Stallions won a rescheduled match after the final day of the season to steal the minor premiership from the Stingrays on goal difference.

“Its a massive blow for us the way the Stallions one the minor premiership but to be honest it has made us stronger. We now have the fighting spirit to win the grand final and win the prestigious honor of the championship trophy.”

Some would say the nerves would be enormous for a 16 year ahead of possibly the biggest game of their young career.

“I am nervous about the Grand Final but nerves only benefit you in a game like this. It pumps you up and makes you ready for the task ahead of you.

“A Grand final like this at such as high level is an amazing achievement and the girls and I are already extremely excited for the game on Sunday.” 

-By Nikola Pozder