MATCH REPORT

Match Report

Women's DP2 - Saturday May 4, 2002

Vs Bulimba

Score: 2-0

With 3 players unavailable and a further 3 honouring umpiring duties the match immediately before ours, our preparation was understandably brief and lacklustre. The match started with both sides evenly matched and it appeared that this was to be a closely fought game. Both sides adopted similar playing styles, with the focus on short passing games. Bulimba seemed to gain a slight ascendancy by out possessing us, having more space in centre field and creating chances up front with their halfbacks and forwards linking well. With their right half overlapping and figuring in attack, our left side forwards were forced back to defend. As their defensive resistance was broken down, opportunities presented themselves, with Tonya, Danielle and Kate coming lose to opening the scoring. Our failure to a force a penalty corner in the first half, and recent rainfall seemingly having little effect on the playing surface, meant that the hockey was free-flowing and exciting end to end stuff.

Scoreless at halftime, one of our objectives for the second half was to force penalty corners and persist with our short passing mode of play. We achieved both feats wonderfully, being awarded at least 20 corners and our passing was nearly flawless. As Bulimba started to try to hit the ball long, we were able to gain easy possession and apply sustained pressure, something that had been happening to us in previous weeks. This meant that we as we starved Bulimba of possession, they were unable to hold the ball in our half of the field during the opening 20 minutes of the second half. During this time we scored our 2 goals. Their runner on penalty corners was fast and we were adept at utilising our lay-off options with numerous chances going close. Tonya's hitting on corners was exemplary and it was only a matter of time until we scored. When we did, it was lovely passing in the circle from the likes of Jodie and Nadine that provided space for Tonya to shoot. A well struck corner hit from Kym soon after (and an equally animated celebration!) saw us double our lead.

By far our most impressive match of the season so far and impossible to nominate standout players as everyone was sensational (especially in the second half). The short passing game (utilising back passes and crossfield distribution) worked perfectly - one instance saw about 8 passes take us from left side defense to the right half then to 4 forwards linking together and finishing with a good shot on goal - beautiful to watch. We learnt that it's much easier to beat players with the ball rather than speed or skill. Still, there is room for improvement. Sometimes our forwards took free hits that were best left for halfbacks and likewise halfbacks took hits when fullbacks should have. By doing this we restricted our options in attack by leaving us one player short upfield. Only when we reverted back to our old bad habits of a long hitting game did Bulimba have a chance in the second half. But for some great saves from the Bulimba goalkeeper, our winning margin could have been much much greater, but we have the capability to score more frequently in the future.

Goals: Tonya Collins

Kym Oliver

Lee Oliver