FOR 32 minutes an under siege Lithgow Zig Zag outfit manage to repel Souths, but in the end the weight of attacking pressure told as the two blues posted 3-1 win in Saturday's women's Premier League Hockey contest at Bob Roach Field.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The score sheet showed it was a Nikki Thurtell double and Samantha Hurst's first Premier League goal which saw Souths come from a 1-0 deficit to snatch the points off their valiant rivals.
But patience and sticking to structures also played a role in Souths posting a win which keeps them in finals contention too.
"I think that first quarter we could have had three or four goals easily, they saved a lot off the line. That was the thing, they put a lot of players behind the ball and we struggled to draw them out," Souths coach Chris Stafford said.
"There was a lot of one-out stuff early on when we should have scored quite a few goals, but by the end of the game we started to use the midfield a little bit more.
"We were just pushing up and pushing up and that clogs the circle and it's hard to get opportunities. It was more towards the end there when they were tired and couldn't get as many numbers behind the ball, that is when the circle started opening up."
As Stafford indicated, Zig Zag's defence did well to stifle their efforts early, goalkeeper Jamie Robson making a string of good blocks while both Jana Winwood and Bree Curnuck cleared shots off the line.
When Sophie McCauley did manage to beat Zig Zag's defence in the first quarter her effort struck the post, so when a Courtney Pearson tucked the ball neatly around Souths goalkeeper Kate Brown with one second left in that period, it gave her side the lead.
Zig Zag continued to scramble well in defence to carry their 1-0 advantage into half-time, but two minutes into the third quarter they finally broke. Thurtell slotted home off Souths' fourth penalty corner of the match.
Her second came with a tick under 11 minutes left before Hurst iced the win - getting the final touch on the far post after nice lead up work from Sam Brown - in the 57th minute.
READ ALSO: Saints use back line speed to sink Cowra
READ ALSO: Martin is named in Australian merit side
While using the same tactic of putting bodies behind the ball and trying to strike through quick counter attacks as has been the case all season, the match once more highlighted how much Zig Zag have improved.
As was the case last week against Bathurst City, they repelled eight of nine penalty corners their rivals were awarded.
"We won the first half. We worked our arses off today, we actually ended up with two broken fingers out it as well - our centre forward and our fullback," Zig Zag vice-captain Sam Martin said.
"Like I said last week, there's been a big turnaround in our team. We've got a different mindset, different morale, different encouragement in the team.
"I guess 3-1, we've got to be happy with that, we all worked our arses off and played really, really well.
"We actually have numbers this year too - we bench people now we have numbers," she added with a laugh.
