The first division 1 women’s encounter between Strikers and West took place in Lower South East Hockey Association round six action.
The first quarter was a close affair, with Strikers getting multiple chances at goal through counter attacks from their skilful forward line.
When not on the break, Strikers were under the pressure of West hunting for goal.
The pressure eventually led to an early break from Angela Broad, adding to her impressive career goal tally.
The pressure continued from the West attack in the second quarter, adding to their score through a goal from Lily Delaland.
After this early break, Strikers began to find their feet and develop their play up the field.
A spark came from ex-Westie Ash Dunn who scored two goals for Strikers in the second half.
With scores level, West found their first half pressure back through several opportunities in front of goal.
Much to West’s frustration, Strikers GK Kate Fabian pulled a best on ground performance, saving anything and everything that came her way, securing the draw.
Both teams look forward to their next encounter as Strikers welcome Chloe Boylan back to the lineup and West bring in some missing depth in Codie Jackway, Rhona MacDonald, and Brydie Murphy.
It was Redbacks’ turn to travel to Naracoorte this week to face a side travelling very well at home so far.
Naracoorte jumped at the first whistle and took the game straight into attack, putting the visitors’ defence on the backfoot.
Sarah Hamilton managed to get multiple early shots away for Naracoorte but was blocked by some solid goalkeeping from Redbacks’ Rachel Curtis.
Eliza Beck worked hard for Redbacks driving into attack and helping to earn multiple penalty corners which were not quite able to be converted by the rest of the forwards.
A fast break just before the end of the first quarter saw Sarah Hamilton sink a solid shot at goal, giving Naracoorte the first score of the game.
The second quarter saw Naracoorte continuing to push hard into their attack with shots from Sarah H and Alice Rainsford being knocked aside by both Redbacks fullbacks and their goalie.
Naracoorte’s defensive mother and daughter Derrington duo denied Redbacks many opportunities until a fast break lead by Anna Mitchell earned Redbacks a penalty corner.
A slow PC injection allowed Alice Rainsford and Amy Hunt enough time to clear the ball out of Naracoorte’s defence.
A long bomb pass from Amy Hunt found Sarah Hamilton near the attacking circle where she was able to draw out Redback’s goalie and slot in a goal behind her.
After the restart, a mid-field tussle was won by Redbacks’ Jade Delaney creating an opportunity to get her team back into attack after earning a penalty corner.
Redbacks changed up their penalty corner plan and passed left to try to get around the defenders but were shut down by Naracoorte’s goalie Brittany Chaston.
Late arrival Stef Wighton gave Redbacks some more speed in the midfield towards the end of the quarter and Megan Beck’s solid play at fullback continued to deny Naracoorte’s strikers.
Redbacks came out hard in the third quarter driving into their attack resulting in some desperate defence from Naracoorte.
Some tidy pieces of play from Redbacks’ Stef, Jade and Anna helped the midfield push forward again and again.
Redbacks had some very close calls but just could not finish their charge.
Corrie Taylor and Sarah Hamilton combined to move the ball back into attack for Naracoorte with strong support from Tillie Derrington only to be shut down by Layne Blackwell as the last line of Redbacks’ defence.
A late penalty corner for Naracoorte saw Amy Hunt drive a missile ball into the goal for the third goal of the match.
Again Redbacks were determined to score after the last quarter break, tired bodies in the Naracoorte midfield allowed continuous pressure from Redbacks strikers to nearly break through but despite many attempts the closest Redbacks could get was the goal post.
A mid-air intercept from Jade Delaney stopped Naracoorte in the midfield and pushed Redbacks back into their attacking circle.
A fast break from Eliza Beck finished with a shot under pressure that forced Naracoorte’s goalie to go to full stretch to make the save.
A return fast break from Naracoorte was shut down quickly by Megan Beck but eventually Naracoorte found a gap in Redbacks’ defence that allowed Amy Hunt to breach the top of the circle and power hit a fourth goal for Naracoorte.
Not willing to give up Redbacks forced their way back into their attack for the last time, scrabbling at everything in the circle and finally creating an opening for Anna Mitchell to find the back of the net.
