HOCKEY
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SOUTHS have maintained their 2014 dominance of St Pat’s with a 3-1 win in their women’s Premier League Hockey match on Saturday at the Cooke Hockey Complex.
The two blues made the Saints pay for some poor finishing in the first half when they spent a good portion of their time in attack and spurned several clear-cut opportunities right in front of goal.
When Souths had their chances to impact the scoreboard they took them. In doing so they kept themselves level with major semi-final hopefuls Parkes and Bathurst City on 38 competition points, though they trail on goal difference.
“Kath Messer missed an open goal and that proved to be a bit of a turning point as far as we’re concerned,” victorious coach Damien Carter said.
“They had four short corners in the first half and we managed to keep all of them out and again in the second we had a few of those moments.
“To keep them scoreless for all but the last five minutes of the game is huge for us, they are still a bloody good hockey side.”
The moment Carter referred to came 10 minutes into the game when a great run from Kristy Ekert led to a pass into the circle to Messer with Souths goalkeeper Kate Brown out of position.
Unfortunately for the Pat’s player, the ball was mid-bounce when she tried to flick it in and she could only manage to send it over the top of the crossbar.
Pat’s continued to press and had their share of penalty corners in the first half, including four in eight minutes at one stage. However, none led to the opening goal.
Happy enough to counter-attack and play deep in their own half for long patches, Souths finally had their first clear cut chance seven minutes before the break with their own penalty corner. They took it with open arms.
Initially Saints goalkeeper Karen Fieldus made a good save, but from the rebound Michelle Somers slotted home.
The momentum of the game had swung and the scoreboard reflected it as the two sides went to the dugout.
Souths made an emphatic statement almost immediately after play resumed as Ash Corby, her team’s most dangerous player in the first half, made a long run which drew Fieldus to the edge of the circle.
It was the right decision from the goalkeeper, but Corby was good enough to maintain possession. She then sent a pass to Steph Plunkett who scored a rare goal to put her team in front.
Twelve minutes later the win was all but sealed when Tahlia Cranston was on the end of a nice chain of passes and made a good run into the circle before finishing off to put her team three goals clear.
Pat’s didn’t throw in the towel, but were repelled time and time again, at one stage having four penalty corners back-to-back.
It was Messer who did finally get them on the board five minutes from full-time against the run of play. It was fitting as she had been easily her team’s best player and arguably the best on the field.
Pat’s took Fieldus off and played without a goalkeeper in a desperate bid to produce a late miracle, but it didn’t yield any goals and they still sit outside the top five with time running out.
“It was a pretty mixed performance, there were some brilliant plays and some not so brilliant plays and we were really our own worst enemy at stages there,” Saints coach Bec Clayton said.
“I felt we made Souths look better than they were, they put their chances away but we had so many in that first 20, 25 minutes or so. Four or five really good opportunities.
“It is disappointing, but scoring goals is what wins you games and we didn’t do it well enough.”
SOUTHS 3 (Michelle Somers, Steph Plunkett, Tahlia Cranston) defeated ST PAT’S 1 (Kath Messer)