Women’s DP1 Minor Semi Final – Saturday August 23, 2003
Vs St. Andrews
Score: 0-1
After our last minute win last week, we found ourselves playing in the second week of the finals. We were pitted against a St. Andrews side that hadn’t won in a month, and had suffered a 4-1 drubbing at the hands of Kedron-Wavell in their first semi-final. We may have felt they would be down on confidence, but we knew we couldn’t underestimate them. We knew we would be in for a tough game given our two previous meetings with them this season had seen them win 1-0 on both occasions. We would have to match or better our determined effort from last weekend to have a chance. Unfortunately for us, four of our choice players were unavailable and our centre half Kym had been bed-ridden with the flu all week, so a big thanks must go out to Jess Wilson, Marie Kinshela and Jane Straker for helping us out after their respective seasons had already finished.
Regular centre forward Tonya started at centre half with Kym starting on the sidelines. Our tactic for the match was to put lots of pressure on them early in the first half, earn plenty of penalty corners and score the first goal. We got the first two elements right, but unfortunately the third objective eluded us – the goals just wouldn’t come. Our wingers Marie and Jane (who earned several player of the match votes), lead our makeshift forward line and caused their defense some troubles with their pace as we started the match in positive attacking fashion. We were awarded a number of corners which we used well, but we couldn’t hit the backboard with any of them. It seemed the luck wasn’t with us today. Every shot that went on target drew a rebound from the keeper’s pads, but every time that rebound would go straight to a defender’s stick and cleared to safety. Shanina had one of the few clear chances of the first half but her powerful hit drifted wide.
Kym came on late in the half but Tonya was very well marked by their defenders. So our inside forwards Shanina and Danielle and wing-halves Bronwyn and Nadine took on more responsibility in attack. After the halftime break it was us who had to weather their attacking pressure, with fullbacks Michelle and Kayley once again outstanding. For the better part of the half they were camped down our end of the field as they held possession and started to force penalty corners as our intensity dropped and we began to tire. St. Andrews knew they only had to draw the match to advance, and unlike our previous opponents Commercial, they really utilised this knowledge well by playing a deliberately slow game. At any given time they could have as many as five players behind the ball, limiting our chances on breakaways. But Danielle had a chance to score but her shot went wide left and Becca couldn’t deflect the ball in at the post. And one of Tonya’s passes just failed to reach Jane on the top of the circle. Their sustained pressure was rewarded when they scored late in the match to hand us another 0-1 losing scoreline against Saints. And no, they didn’t change their socks again! Get your act together BWHA...
Once again we couldn’t manage to score the goals when we needed them most, which I guess has been a bit of an unfortunate trademark of our season. However St. Andrews did have the upper hand given they finished higher up the ladder. I hadn’t realised how much of an advantage this is until I saw the way they played this match – tactically their coach devised a very smart game for his team to follow. But for us, finishing fourth is a really great effort by all the players. Given the calibre of opposition we’ve encountered this year stepping up a grade, and indeed the tightness of the DP1 competition, we should feel content with our efforts. With continued improvement and team cohesion, we will figure in the finals again next year. As our season has drawn to a close, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of the players, fill-ins from DP2 and DP3, spectators and anyone else who helped make 2003 another successful season, and one that was never dull or without drama or truly memorable moments. Cheers.
Lee Oliver
© 2003 Lee Oliver