Second round of Women’s Australian Hockey League: Hockey Recap
New South Wales (NSW) Arrows recorded a fantastic victory over the Northern Territory Pearls in round two of the Women’s Australian hockey League (AHL). The match was played at Cairns and NSW Arrows shattered Northern Territory (NT) Pearls by five goals
to nil.
In the first half, both the teams displayed a very tough game of hockey with a lot of chances for scoring, but eventually it was NSW Arrows which got the breakthrough in the 23rd minute, when Jade Close rocked through the NT Pearls’ defence line
and smashed an excellent field goal.
Just after three minutes of the first goal NSW Arrows’ captain, Megan Rivers, exhibited a great running effort and scored another field goal in 26th minute. While before two minutes in the end of 1st half once again it was Jade Close
who gave the final touch and guided the ball in the goal post of Territory’s Pearls, making it 3-0 for the NSW Arrows.
In the second half NT Pearls played more defensive, kept NSW Arrows away from the goal post and saved a number of attempts made by NSW Arrows. However, the defence could only last till 47th minute when Stephanie Purdy managed to pass on NT Pearls'
goal-keeper, Elizabeth Duguid, making it 4-0 for the Arrows. NT Pearls also created some chances, but could not convert those into goals. The fifth and the final goal was scored in the 63rd minute of the match when Stephanie Purdy again put the
ball into the goal post making it 5-0 for the NSW Arrows and that score stood till the end of the match as after that no goal was scored by any side.
Prior to this scintillating victory, NSW Arrows had faced a disgraced defeat by The OAMPS Queensland Scorchers in their previous round two Women’s Australian Hockey League match, which was also played at the same venue. Queensland Scorchers defeated NSW
Arrows by three goals to one.
Both of the teams displayed a very fast and active hockey during the initial twenty minutes of the first half, but no one could manage to convert the opportunities into goals. Eventually it was NSW Arrows’ Stephanie Purdy who broke the defence line of Queensland
Scorchers in the 21st minute and directed the ball towards the goal post. In the remaining time of the first half both the sides made some very quick efforts, but the result remained the same, 1-0 in NSW Arrows favour.
In the second half the pace of the game's heat did not decrease despite of tough playing conditions and in the 46th minute Amy Korner scored for Queensland Scorchers levelling the score at 1-1. The remaining two goals were scored in the 55th
minute again by Korner and in the 68th minute by Madonna Blyth, captain of the Queensland Scorchers.
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