A HEAVY downpour on Saturday afternoon may have been a major dampener for Souths, but Bathurst City were singing in the rain at the Cooke Hockey Complex as they won their women’s Premier League Hockey match 4-0.
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While Souths had been ultra impressive seven days earlier on the same surface, the heavy dump of rain meant the turf played quicker than usual.
City adjusted better and after absorbing the early attacking pressure Souths applied, they took control of proceedings.
They created more chances through the first half without managing to breach Souths’ defence, but once the opening goal came seven minutes into the second stanza the game quickly slipped from the two blues’ grasp.
Having been eliminated by Souths in last year’s minor semi-final it was a result City relished, but co-coach Jill Long was trying not to read too much into it.
“We did adjust well to the conditions I thought,” she said.
“I thought they had the best first 15 and we held them out, but then it was our turn and that is when we started to score. Because we had dominated before half-time I think the roll was on.
“It is only the first game of the season, so what happens the next time we play Souths in nine weeks could be totally turned around.
“But I am very pleased with the girls and how they played today.
“Souths played well and could’ve scored early, if they did it could have been a totally different scoreline. But both teams were able to walk off and shake hands afterwards.”
The opening exchanges saw play go from end-to-end, but it was Souths who had the first real opportunity after six minutes when Stacy Tomlinson got around Andrea Seymour and into a one-on-one with City goalkeeper Madison Tattersall.
However, the custodian was up to the task and denied her rival, the play a big moment in the context of the match as City then started to build momentum.
They gave Souths a scare when nice work from Aimee Ashcroft gifted Danielle Fisher room in the circle, goalkeeper Kate Brown and Amelia Burke managing to scramble the ball to safety.
The two blues then had City hearts fluttering when they earned their first penalty corner of the match. Sarah Watterson fed the ball wide to an unmarked Ashleigh Corby, but her diving effort ended up just wide of the goal.
That came 25 minutes into the match and from then on City looked the more dangerous side in attack.
Brown blocked shots from Kelly Baker, Seymour and Casey Bayliss, while Michelle Somers made a brilliant trap to hold out a reverse stick effort from Bayliss.
The sides went to the break locked at nil-all, but City were soon on the attack when play resumed.
They had two early penalty corners before Bayliss broke the deadlock, firing the ball into the right corner of the goal to make it 1-0. The margin was doubled 13 minutes later as Ashcroft scored on the far post as she cleaned up after a Baker attempt.
If Souths were to be any chance of getting back into the match they needed to be the next to score. They weren’t.
With seven minutes left a Seymour drag flick from City’s seventh penalty corner of the match made it 3-0, while new recruit Sam Hopwood found the mark off another set play after the siren.
“It was a great effort from the girls. We had a few out and we had others who were really sick – Casey Bayliss had been in hospital and she still scored a goal,” Long said.
“Kelly Baker was one of our top players today, she was great, she’s a stalwart. Maddy Tat has not had a goal scored against her so far this season, Red [Seymour] was like a rock and I thought Sam [Hopwood] played well her first game back from injury.”
BATHURST CITY 4 (Andrea Seymour, Casey Bayliss, Sam Hopwood, Aimee Ashcroft) def BATHURST SOUTHS 0