We were definitely the underdogs coming into this game, with our opposition sitting second on the ladder, but after a hard-fought battle that went right down to the wire, Lofty came away with the points.
Once again, we kicked-off with strong front and back line-ups, while also trialling a few players across the mids and wings. It was important to get off to a start on this one or we were really going to find the going tough in the second, when six new rotations were to be pitched and asked to find their feet quickly. Luckily for Lofty, Louise stepped up and put a cracker away.
The strategy for this game was to get a scoreboard jump on Mt Barker, and if they levelled later, we'd swing back into an offensive set-up. This game was never going to be a draw. We were committed to giving every girl a fair run, and we were going to take some risks.
We were forced to deal with a few injuries in the first, with Meisha copping a hard knock to the shin, and Indigo getting a boot to the head. Both our girls were courageous and wanted to fight on, but we decided to give them a rest and rush Alice and Kyah into the action.
As you'd expect from a decent squad, Mt Barker got their leveller, and looked the goods for a second and third, and maybe more. It was tactic time mid-way through the second, and Louise was subbed back on up front, and Nikhili went to centre-back.
When Louise scored her second goal to again give us the lead, the Lofty sideline erupted into cheers and applause.
Now, we really had to defend hard ...!
Sahara, Nikhili, Meisha, and Milly were so committed for us. Thanks guys! Tight marking and hard running gave us some real hope, while Kyah was playing brilliantly in goal. She somehow stopped a flurry of Mt Barker efforts that really should have hit the back of our net.
After a frantic, nail-biting final few minutes, the whistle blew and this one was ours. We really deserved it too, if only for our sheer grit and determination.
I'd really like to thank Brooke Neale for another killer game. Thanks so much for all your hard running, Brooke! Thanks also to the ever-reliable Meisha for another gutsy performance. Congratulations to Louise and Kyah for making our best-player list this weekend.
Finally, thanks to our assistant coach, Jake Sparrow, for his insight and guidance to the squad at the sidelines, and to the Sparrow family for providing the girls with a tree-full of oranges this week. Thanks Sue and Andrew ...!
Great effort guys ...!!!
Result:
MOUNT LOFTY 2 - Mount Barker 1
WIN #04 for LOFTY ...!!!
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