South Australia whitewashes Northern Territory by 4-0 to claim 7th place
Tess Reynolds lit the lamp twice and had an outstanding performance, as the women’s squad of South Australia (SA) overwhelmed Northern Territory (NT) by 4-0 and secured the 7th place out of total eight teams in the U-21 National Hockey Championship
being played at the National Hockey Centre in Lyneham on July 23, 2011.
It was a play-off match for the 7th and 8th places and crucial for both the teams, but the South Australian team did not show impressive performance and disappointed their fans. It failed to score a single goal in the seventy minutes
of play. Before entering into the field, South Australia has had two victories in their hands, while their rivals Northern Territory won only a single game out of total eight played.
It was a shocking play-off for South Australia as they lost to Tasmania in the classification game and had no option expect to play for the final two positions. On the other hand, the NT team was sitting at the second last position and could improve it,
if they succeeded against Australian Capital Territory (ACT), but it did not happen.
The players from South Australian side opened the game in a fast and furious way in order to avoid same mistakes what were done in the previous match. With the ball possession, they established their strength from the very beginning and put opponent NT under
heavy pressure.
With their brilliant fitness and pace, the ST strikers destroyed the defence line of Northern Territory and stuck them at the back-line. In the result of the a fast and aggressive play, the South Australian paid-off in the 19th minute, when Tess
Reynolds received a long pass from the mid-field and volleyed it into the back-board of the goal.
It continued their back-to-back attacks and built up further pressure against Northern squad. In a matter of three minutes, Alison Pennington managed to get the ball in front of the goal and hit a powerful shot and giving no chance to NT's goal-keeper. Regardless
of some brilliant moves in the remaining period of the first half, neither SA increased its tally nor NT opened the scoring.
The action in the first play-off game resumed with similar to the first round. It was only South Australia everywhere on the field, obtained another couple of goals and took the game into their favour.
In the opening minutes, the NT received a couple of goal-scoring opportunities, but failed to do so. Brooke Peris found a sure chance, but to no avail. In the counter offence, Amy Watters converted a short-corner while her team-mate Reynolds added one goal
each in the 53rd and 57th minute and sealed the triumph at 4-0. With the impressive victory, the women of South Australia secured the 7th place in the U-21 Australian National Hockey Championship.
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