Northern Territory defeats South Australia 3-2 to claim seventh place in 2011 AHL season
Adrian Lockley was at his best and carried out all the action with three notches, as Northern Territory (NT) edged out South Australia (SA) 3-2 in the playoff game to claim seventh place in the Australian Hockey League (AHL) held at the Sydney Olympic Park.
It is worth mentioning that both the NT and SA teams earned respectively the same 7th and 8th positions in the previous edition of the AHL.
The Coach of the NT side while briefing the media expressed satisfaction saying that they had started the final week action with full strength. He further stated that they have idea of the slow game but still they showed some incompatible performances. He
explained, “We started to gain some momentum during the week but then dropped off again. We played one of our better games of the season today and can continue to improve.”
On the other side, the coach of the South Australian squad also spoke to the media which earned the bottom-line position in the national league. He was of the opinion that they had been evaluated their mental stamina in the last game. However, they failed
to show impressive performance. He said, “Our young player list has developed well through the system, coming up through the U21’s most recently. But we don’t have a history and culture of winning that we can draw upon yet.”
It is important to note that the North Australian squad displayed impressive performance throughout the final seven days. It was clearly looking that the South Australians were missing their strength as they failed to avail the opportunities despite having
possession of the ball on many occasions.
The two line-ups unfolded in quite a cautious way but it was the Northern side that not only drew first blood but also dominated the first half of play at 2-1. Amazingly, skipper of the NT side, Adrian Lockley was at his best and managed all the scoring
for his team. With seven minute into the game, Lockley converted a short corner and earned their first lead. He continued his fast and furious game and doubled the tally soon after the four minutes through a field goal. In the counter offence, Tom Wickham
accounted for a goal in the 23rd minute and reduced the NT lead down to a single goal at the half-time.
With four minutes into the second half, Lockley notched another goal and expanded the lead up to two goals. Matthew Claxton of Southern part though scored a goal in the 67th minute but to no avail. They lost the game 3-2 and were pushed back to
the last eighth position in the league.
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