Women’s Vets B v Hawthorn (R5)
Result:Â Kew (2) def Hawthorn (1)
Conditions were calm and clear on Monday night, and the cool evening air perfect to wake us up for a 9.15 start at the State Hockey Centre.
With several players out this week, new recruit Kathy was warmly welcomed, making the difference between a full team and being one set off legs short. The game started out with a fairly even contest, but as the Kew girls found some rhythm the blue and white shirts began to dominate. Hawthorn came armed with a rookie who seemed to find more of the action with her shoulders than her stick, resulting in one collision that sent Katherine to the sidelines whilst the ground stopped spinning. There were plenty of chances in the first half, but none turned into goals, and we went to the break with no score on the board.
The Kew girls came out again firing, and played through a frustrating 10 minutes which saw more plenty more chances, but just as many near misses. Finally some nice team play wound up with Trish taking a nice shot from the top of the D which firmly found the back of the net, but the job was still far from done. Perhaps caught in a bout of post goal euphoria, we let our guard down and allowed a jubilant Hawthorn to slip one through after a messy scramble in front of goal.
With a sniff of victory still in the air, the Kew girls were determined not to let this one slip away. With less than four minutes to spare, some lovely work by Barb got the ball to the D, followed by a series of short passes between Katherine, Angele and finally Anne, who sneaked it past the goalie to bring the score to 2-1. A true team effort and satisfying end to another fun filled Monday night.
