Hockey WA - Over 55's Hockey Team

WA Over 55's - 2007 Match Reports

WA vs NSW - Friday, September 28, 2007

Well, we arrived in Sydney to warm weather and the journey began. Piling everyone onto a coach was far less stressful than trying to navigate 8 busses through the city, crossing tollways and travelling an unfamiliar road network. Only problem was that the bus driver couldn’t bring the trailer earmarked for our luggage, so it was squash city in the coach! Luckily the efforts of our two O35s Robby and Rex combined with the driver made a fantastic job of packing things into the coach (heaven help anyone who needed a “pit stop” because even the toilet was crammed with luggage!)

Settled into the apartments in North Ryde which are great – two story townhouse style, with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms upstairs, kitchen, living and laundry downstairs, a courtyard on the lower level and a balcony above (great for those Shakespearean plays – if only our Juliets had their Romeos to seduce them!) Actually Betty B from the O50s had an experience with a two eyed snake on the balcony, but that’s a secret for the Super Chicks…..

Left to collect the busses prior to training on Thursday, only to find the promised 15 minute drive had turned into a 45minute cross town expedition. Poor Scott from Rising Stars (a P plate driver and uncertain of his way across town) was relying on a Tom-Tom navigational device, which fell off the windscreen soon into the trip, nearly giving him heart failure. He spent most of the journey holding the device and gazing forlornly at it…his devastated “That can’t be good for it” will be a moment to remember for the tour. And when the signal dropped out, you’d’ve thought the world ended…… Still, those of us who left early with Scott, managed to get to the bus hire place about 15 minutes after the late crew (who left in a taxi 15 minutes after us….)

Busses collected and a few wrong turns later, Macca and Nico made it to Olympic Park half way through the training session. Luckily a flurry of phone calls during our ride with Scott got Bev organising taxis for the 55s and 50s so all the rest of the girls to the pitch on time. What a scorcher! The pitch area retains a lot of the heat and Sydney turned on a warm one for us. The girls quickly worked up a sweat and learnt to compensate for the bounce on pitch one (unfortunately our first 2 games are on pitch 2…).

From the training session, we all trooped into the Macquarie Shopping Centre to stock up on good healthy food for the week (although the boozerie got a few customers as well). The girls had the afternoon and evening to themselves for some quiet R & R before our first game, while Bev, Nico and the rest of the coaches and managers, plus a few umpires and our Techo Pat traipsed off to the venue for the official briefing.

Team meeting in the morning and a walk around the local parks were our morning preparation, to limber us up before heading out to the stadium for our first game – against NSW. After the team had decorated both busses so beautifully in the black and gold of WA, we were ready for anything!

NSW were thought to be our toughest opposition for the comp so we weren’t looking forward to starting our tournament against them. Add to the fact that this is their home turf, they’ve had a heap more training on the surface AND they had a few extra players…..hmm, a tough game ahead alright! They started off by nicking one of our balls in the warm up, and wouldn’t give it back when Nico chased it up. Boo hiss – bad sports there.

With the weather hot and fine, and the heat cranking up past 28oC, we hit the field and NSW started with the pass back. Both teams were feeling their way around each other, and NSW took an early advantage with our unfamiliarity with the field to press into our D and get a short corner in the third minute. Excellent defence by Alene, Lyn C, Dot, Jane and Lorraine gave us the clearance and we took the ball into attack. A few free hits we took went straight to the opposition , but we managed to get the ball into their D and earned a long corner in the 7th minute. Some good work by our strikers didn’t quite deliver and the NSW players went for a run. They had a couple of attempts to get into the D but our excellent defence kept them from doing any damage. The play was pretty even for the next 5-10 minutes, until a strong drive by the WA attack saw us drive into their D a couple of times around the 20 minute mark. NSW responded with a charge at our defenders, who yet again kept them away from Alene and the goal.

Our midfield linked with our strikers and drove the ball into attack, earning us a penalty corner against NSW in the 26th minute. Great efforts by our attack unfortunately failed to sink the ball in the net, and NSW thought they’d have a go at attacking us, but yet again our outstanding defence kept them from creating any hassles. We finished off the half with a drive of our own, got into the NSW D and had a corner awarded, but with seconds left on the clock, despite the lunging efforts of our attacking battery, we were unable to score (was nail-bitingly close, though!)

Bev’s half-time talk revved us up, and armed with a couple of jelly snakes under the belt and a few squirts of water from the spray bottle, we hit the deck again. NSW took early control and tried to get into our D – you’d think they’d’ve learnt their lesson in the first half! Our defenders weren’t letting anything through, even their raised balls! NSW had two corners against us, but Alene’s awesome saves and strong work by the back line kept NSW from scoring. It wasn’t until the 16 minute mark that we took charge of the attack and ran the ball straight into the NSW D and got ourselves a long corner. A strong passage of play saw the WA attack earn 2 short corners in quick succession after 21 minutes, but no-one was going out to buy a lotto ticket (no luck here!). The play was shared fairly evenly between the two teams for the next 5 minutes or so, until NSW had a run on our defence, earning first a long, then a short corner, again to no avail. WA finished strongly with a beautiful attacking run in the last 5 minutes. Several penetrations into their D, a very strong short corner attack (very few fingernails left on the bench!) followed by a long corner kept the ball in the NSW 25yd area. A quick breakaway by NSW in the last two minutes was thwarted yet again by our defence. Margie made friends with the umpire, who gave her a green card, but we finished with WA in the attack and no score on the board for either team.

All in all, a good result for our first game, and quite a hard one, so we were pleased to get out of the heat. A recovery session in the Olympic pool was very good after the hot conditions and helped to re-hydrate the team. Best players for the game were Alene and Lyn C – well done girls!

Everyone hit the sack early to prepare for the early game against SA tomorrow.

Result: WA 0 - NSW 0

WA vs SA - Saturday, September 29, 2007

Who invented early morning games?? Despite the time, all the girls looked awake and a bit better prepared as they hopped on the busses at 6.30am. Did we mention how beautifully decorated they are? My particular favourite decoration is the danger tape emblazoned with “Caution – wild girls.” We even beat the ground controllers to the stadium this morning, arriving at 7am to locked gates (even the Tournament Director was locked out!) It wasn’t a long wait, and we were soon bustling off to pitch 2 and the change rooms for our pre-game briefing and morning “stars” from our resident astrologer Karen Allan. All zodiacs were reported in an extremely professional manner with excellent prospects for the whole team. Macca led the warm-up and we were onto the turf with style.

After the scorcher yesterday it was a pleasure not to feel the sun’s bite, but boy was the wind cold! If Sydney isn’t trying to give you heatstroke, it’s trying to give you frostbite! Yet another ball went missing during our warm-up (several bitey-growly looks towards the SA bench and direct confrontation with the manager again failed to win Nico back that ball. However she did manage to find one of Janet’s from the 35s, which was duly returned (other states – please take note!)

WA had the first pass-back and dominated from the start. Within the first minute we were in SA’s 25 yard area, and hammered their D until we got our first short corner in the third minute. No result from this one, so we hammered them again and again until we got into their D and got another short in the 7th minute. Incredible fighting by Lorraine failed to get the ball through to the net so we were still scoreless. Another penalty corner at the 10 minute mark didn’t get our name on the board, but there was no way we were stopping.

Constant pressure on the SA girls saw them beaten consistently in the play, with WA stealing the ball from most of their free hits and persistently driving into the D. Karen Allan had an awesome goal shot after 15 minutes that had the crowd groaning when it missed. Driving the ball constantly into their D was eroding the SA girls’ confidence as we took the play to them on every level. Long corners, short corners, driving into their D – we took the ball to them and had plenty of time to have a good look at their goal, but didn’t sink one in the first half. SA only got into our D once in the first half (with 6 minutes to go) but Alene and her defensive army kept them well away from any danger of scoring.

Bev’s half time talk focussed on the positives and with a few hints and her expert guidance, the team hit the field for the second half. We started off defensively, letting the SA girls have a short turn with the ball, although they never showed any sign of getting into our D. Six minutes into the half Jane was off and running up the side of the field saw the start of our attacking drive. Lorraine was trying to make friends with the umpires, often raising her hand to wave hello to them, but they wouldn’t respond to her and her luck wasn’t good (although I think she’ll have a few bruises from the elbows to the ribs and sticks across the shins…) This didn’t stop Lorraine, Karen Allan and Jane teaming up to continue the drive into attack and get another short corner that stubbornly refused to convert itself into a goal. A short breakaway by the SA attack was stymied yet again by our fantastic defence team of Helen and Karen Adams and we were off up the field again. In their D, Long corner, long corner, short corner, in their D, short corner and KAPOW! Karen Allan broke the ice with a beautiful tuck-in goal from a Lorraine and Macca drive after 20 minutes.

That felt so good that the girls immediately began the drive into SA’s D again, getting a couple more shorts and longs before deciding to take a short breather. SA had a couple of runs down the field but Karen Adams and Helen kept them away from Alene (we think Alene must be allergic to red – SA didn’t get one short corner in the whole game because our defenders were so good!). Our 16 in the 30th minute stopped all that with a magnificent passage of play terminating in Lorraine smacking the ball into the net for a goal with 4 minutes to go. SA tried to come back with a vengeance but ran into Smarty and the defensive army again and the best they could manage was a couple of long corners against us before the final whistle blew. OUR FIRST WIN – and the first win in our division, as all the 55 teams drew yesterday, so we were on top of the table!

Just a few stats for you: 19/20 of our free hits were successful in our first half (going straight to a WA player and leading onto good attacking runs) and 16/19 in the second half. Our penetrations into the D were in Bev’s target zones 17/19 times in the first half and 15/17 times in the second so we are well on track! A pleasure to see that Bev’s instructions and all those drills are paying off!

The team spent a leisurely afternoon with some obtaining leave passes to visit with family and most of the rest going out to the stadium to watch the 35’s, 40’s and 50’s play. Worst news of the day was the injury last night to Sue Foster from the 40’s – some serious knee damage saw Fozzy on crutches today and facing a specialist on Tuesday. The 55’s were devastated to see our Foz on the sidelines – she’s a dynamic and talented player who always gives her all. Hope you’re off the sticks soon!

Another early game tomorrow as we shape up to face the Queensland team on the local rugby grand final day….. Apparently traffic is due to be appalling, parking nigh impossible, but who cares? We have another game to win!

Result: WA 2 - SA 0

Goal scorers: Karen Allan, Lorraine Carnachan.

WA vs QLD - Sunday, September 30, 2007

Yet another of those dreaded early morning games! Still, it’s supposed to beat most of the heat….. HA! Our early start paid off as we drove through Sydney’s empty streets despite the threat of constant traffic for the NRL grand final. Rocked up at the Olympic pitch to drop the team off at the front gate, to find the front gate locked! Yes, we knew we had to park in a different area but no-one said anything about the gates being locked! We scuttled around to the rear entry and lugged our masses of playing equipment back to pitch 1 (made a very good warm up!) We had our instructions from Bev, and our stars from our resident astrologer, then onto the field.

The venue was kindly playing some mood music to suit our age group – Kerry was particularly keen to let us know that they were playing her song (Kerry Anne) and we were mildly amused by Qld dancing their warm up. When we started our running, and doing Bev’s “thread-the-zipper” routine, I think they were rather shocked that we were taking things so seriously! A good warm up over (and a very happy Nico because we retained all our balls today – after buying two to make up numbers yesterday!) we took the field to face our third game of the tournament.

Despite the 8.30am start, the heat was on – literally, with those early rays scorching our fair West Australian hides. No icy breezes today to take the sting out of it at all. Queensland took the pass back and after a few minutes for both teams to get the feel of the ball and the pitch, WA started the attack. A couple of strong penetrations into the D before the Qld team shifted the ball to our end of the field. Despite getting a long corner for their troubles, Qld soon lost the ball and the WA attack was on again.

We earned our first short corner at the 11 minute mark, followed by two more in quick succession, but it wasn’t until the fourth one (after 15 minutes) that we managed to find the net and Macca drilled the ball through the circle for our first goal of the day.

Queensland responded with a run into our defensive zone, but despite 4 short corners in as many minutes, they were unable to score. Great work by Karen Adams and the defensive army! WA took the ball back into attack for a short corner in Queensland’s discomfort zone, but we were unable to repeat the success of the last one we had. For five minutes or so it was anyone’s game as the play changed fairly evenly between the teams, until WA finished the half with 5 minutes of strong attacking play. A couple of long corners confirmed our attacking drive, and with consistent penetrations into the Queensland circle, Margie was able to smack one into the net with seconds left on the clock. Two – nil up at half time – great work!

The spray bottle and the ice bags were handed around at the break, cooling players who’d been running their proverbial’s off during the hot first half. Bev’s instructions under our belt and we hit the turf for the next session.

Our initial attacking run was stymied by Queensland who took the ball to visit Alene and earned themselves a short corner. Unable to score from that, they got a penalty stroke against our Ales, who upheld our faith and trust as she yet again stopped the ball from going anywhere near the net. Discouraged, Queensland let us take control of the game for a while, but when our penetrations into their D proved unsuccessful, they had another run at us, scoring in the 8th minute of the half.

Of course, WA took this as a personal insult and the girls linked up to drive the ball into attack. Lyn C was constant in the forward line, linking with Karen Allan (Legs), Margie and Smarty in our attacking drive. Leone swapped with Margie and parked herself high and kept leading into the circle. Helen and Kerry ran rings around their forwards and took the play through the Queenslanders. Macca was (as usual) our rock in the middle, directing play to our advantage with her strength. Jane’s massive heart kept her running against a lanky streak of lightning on the Queensland wing (I think we need to see a birth certificate here folks!). Dotty and Jan flitted around the field, popping up unexpectedly (for the Queenslanders – not us!) and creating some great leads and sending the ball forward. One of the Queenslanders thought to take on Lorraine and ended up having to leave the pitch with blood streaming from her nose – can’t mess with the West, girl! (In Lorraine’s defence, I think the Queenslander was trying to head-butt Lorraine and missed – our Lorraine being quite a tall one!) We had another short corner, but no luck on this one. The girls were feeling the weather – heat sucking out a lot of energy, but bursts of cheering from the Hot Chicks and Super Chicks (WA 40’s & 50’s) on the hill gave us the impetus to keep the legs pumping.

A short attacking run by Queensland with 10 minutes to go was beautifully blocked by Karen Adams and the defensive army and despite Queensland having a couple more short corners, there was no serious danger of them troubling Alene with the ball.

WA finished hard, dominating the play in the last six minutes, but unable to get ourselves another goal. Final score was 2-1 to us, to the delight of our fans on the hill. Best players for the day were our two Karen’s and Margie – excellent work girls!

Rest of the day was spent cheering on our other WA teams, before tomorrow’s rest day and Championship Dinner. After our team photos on Tuesday and a light training session, we plan to catch up with our buddies in the Chickie Babes for dinner on Tuesday night, and set ourselves up for our game against Victoria on Wednesday.

Result: WA 2 - QLD 1

Goal scorers: Catherine McFarlane, Margaret Mourach

WA vs VIC - Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Our two days off between games 3 and 4 were spent most profitably. Monday’s rest day saw nearly all of the team catch the bus into the Sydney CBD for a day around Darling Harbour. Luckily for us, Darling Harbour had heard we were coming and turned on a Latin American festival for our entertainment. The monorail was chosen as a great way to see some of the sights by half of the team, and the rest went on a walking tour led by Nico (a couple of American tourists seemed to think that Nico was a freelance tour guide, as they asked her for directions and were most disappointed to find that she came from the other side of the continent and couldn’t help them…)

We hit Paddy’s Markets for our secret friend gifts and other supplies and the girls came away with a thirst for shopping. Luckily, there was a huge shopping complex above Paddy’s ( a la Westfield Shopping Centres or the Galleria) that fit the bill, right down to a food court where the girls chose predominantly healthy options for lunch and where Alene got a rather funky haircut. Another wander through Darling Harbour and the festival – with detours by some to see the Chinese Gardens – before hitting the Harbourside shopping complex for more bargain hunting then catching the bus back to base.

The Championship Dinner was held on Monday night with teams from every state meeting up in the Waterview Function Centre out at Olympic Park. The girls enjoyed catching up with mates (and rivals!) from other states, the booze was exorbitantly priced but the food was quite nice, and there was a fair amount of energy expended on the dance floors. Luckily, Tuesday was also a rest day!

We traipsed out for our team photos at 8.30am, got them knocked off pretty quickly, then headed back to a field near the apartments for some light training. The grass was rather dodgy but the girls all agreed that it was a very worthwhile session, despite the heat. The rest of the day was free time, until we caught up with our buddies in the Chickie Babes – the O35s. They put on an awesome feast, with terrific entertainment for us, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. How they managed to turn on such a fantastic spread by 7pm, when they got home from their game after 4pm was beyond our comprehension, but apparently a couple of Lemmons go a long way……

Wednesday dawned and we had our pre-game meeting early, did our walk and had some free time before hopping in the buses and heading off to Olympic Park for our game against the Victorians. We had a lot of information from our resident spy and former Vic player Macca, so we had a pretty good idea of how they would play.

Unfortunately, Sydney weather turned on a hot one, and with the game played in the heat of the day (1.45pm) the officials decided to divide the game into quarters. An unusual move and the decision was made in the interests of player health and safety, but seemed to interrupt the flow of the team’s standard game. Pitch one felt like the desert itself, with the hot wind drying out everyone and everything, and extra watering was needed throughout the game.

WA took the first pass-back but the Victorians put up a good fight, giving us three 16 yard hits in as many minutes. The west responded with a strong attacking drive that resulted in a short corner with Karen Allan tucking in a Macca special for a goal 5 minutes into the half. Victoria responded with some attacking play of their own, which brought the ball into Karen Adams’ defensive area, who brilliantly carried the ball along the back line and out of danger more than once (great to see that yesterday’s training session paid off so well!). Unfortunately Vic scored a soft field goal at the 13th minute mark, and kept our defence working hard until the “water break” at 18 minutes.

After Nico had been deliberately attacked by the tournament director bearing a huge hose (wet t-shirt competitions galore) and the dry spots on the turf had been re-watered, the half resumed with 17 minutes on the clock. WA repeated the pass-back and unluckily were unable to capitalise on some strong midfield play. Victoria had another go at our defence but there was no getting past Helen, Karen and Alene. WA ran the ball into attack and earned a short corner with 8 minutes to go, but no change to the scores. Some even play for the next 6 minutes, and Vic finished with a strong two minutes in our 25, but yet again, the WA defensive army proved to be much stronger.

Half time talk and Bev got the girls’ heads’ up again as we rehydrated (that wind was draining more moisture from the players than sun!) Luckily shadows had crept across the field during the first half so the pitch was almost totally shaded by the time the hooter went for the second half. Ice bags discarded and cold, wet towels back in the bucket of iced water, and the team hit the field for the second half.

Vic brought the ball into our 25 again – you’d have thought that they would’ve learnt by now that they had no chance of success – and earned a short corner. No winning moves for them, but our Jane pasted a beauty of a 16 – taking the ball early and slamming it into attack. Some great linkage by the inners and strikers game us first a long, then a short corner, but again to no avail. Midfield play between both teams could’ve taken the game either way, and a short burst by the Vics saw our defence yet again turn the ball over and send it into attack. An awesome run by Karen Allan got us a short corner, but no luck in converting. A hit over our baseline by the Vics gave Jane and Lorraine a brilliant opportunity to showcase their skills and drive the ball into attack. Some great defensive work by Leone drew the quarter to a close, and the teams had another quick drinks break.

By the third quarter, neither team was giving up, but both were feeling the effects of the weather conditions. Despite great strength by Macca in the middle, redirecting the play, working back, forwards and sideways, we were unable to put enough pressure on the Vics to earn another short. The Vic’s couldn’t manage to cause us much trouble either, and the final quarter finished with a draw at 1 all. Not the best game played, but mostly due to the weather and the disruptions caused by the need to rehydrate players and keep up the water on the pitch.

Luckily, we had the all-WA teams get together to lift our spirits, and we threw our flagging energies into our team presentation. Enough to say that after our act, the 50s withdrew theirs and the others struggled to match the brilliance we displayed on the night. We also used this opportunity to present the Coaches’ Award (an engraved walking stick donated by former coach Sandra Treloar) which is awarded by the Coach with input from the previous winner. The idea of this award is to not only recognise the player showing most commitment to the team, but to also include their service to veteran’s hockey over a number of years, and to reward their “hockey spirit”. Dot Glass was last year’s winner and was very pleased to be able to present it to Karen Adams, another very worthy winner.

Not too late to bed, as despite the fact that we finished top of the table and had a rest day tomorrow, the girls really needed the rest. We have now got to wait for the results of the elimination final and other semi to find out who we are playing on Friday. Another 1.45pm game although hopefully this one won’t have the same dry, energy zapping heat for us to battle.

Goal scorers: Karen Allan

Result: WA 1 - VIC 1

SemiFinal - WA vs VIC

Another rest day and we started off with singing Lyn Smart “Happy Birthday” and the promise of morning tea to celebrate her reaching the big 6-0. Our morning walk led us to the now familiar oval where we conducted the WA O55’s mini Olympiad. Exciting events such as leader ball, flag races, corner spry and touch-footy-with-netty-rules-and-four-passes-makes-a-point left the girls glowing with positive (and competitive!) energy. Of course, it helps that a lot of the team has primary teaching experience and had a wonderful understanding of the games….

A brief wander around the mid-campus shopping centre had our team dinner venue sorted for Saturday night, then back to Smarty’s for a luscious chocolate mud cake morning tea – yum-yum! The rest of the day saw most of the team take time out for various bits and pieces – a bit of shopping, some beauty treatments and some general feet up lazing before heading out to watch the 40s annihilate SA by some ridiculous margin (5-0 I believe was the final score). Then we trooped off to the Parramatta Leagues Club to catch up with all the O55 teams from each state. A great time was had by all, plenty of gossip as teams split up and spread themselves around the huge restaurant area. Wonderful food – and lots of it! – at very reasonable prices, and even a bar for those who were game enough to risk the wrath of coach Bev…. It was nice to catch up with Sandra Treloar, who has been touring Australia since April. Sandra very conveniently had a Tom-tom navigational device that got us home far more quickly than our trip from the stadium to the Leagues Club. All were home by 9pm and a quiet night had by all.

Our team meeting was held at the reasonable hour of 9am – a few sleep-ins ensured that everyone was well rested for the game ahead! Then the team went for a gentle walk before having some free time, and jumping on the bus just after noon. We had a bit of time on our hands, so our astrologer Madame Karen read our stars for the day and along with Jane’s prophetic friend’s predictions, a good day was forecast for all.

Warm up underway and we heard the first chorus’ from the stands – the 35’s were barracking for us! Hearing friendly voices from home was always good for an uplift! We started with the first pass back and immediately drove into attack. Within a minute we had been given a short corner. No luck here but we kept up the attack, getting into the Vic circle after having a long corner after 4 minutes. Three minutes later we were back in the Vic D and Dot was unlucky to miss a good chance at an early goal. The Vics had a short run with the ball into our D but Macca’s strength kept the ball out of trouble and we went back into attack. A great combination by Dot, Lyn C and Lorraine saw us get the ball quickly up to the Vic defence and earn a long corner. Seconds later we had a short corner and a magnificent team effort saw nearly all the forwards touch the ball, but Karen Allan finally knocked the ball over the line for the first goal after 11 minutes of play.

We kept the ball in attack and the Vic girls were using their bodies to their advantage, targeting a few of our key players. Poor Jane got a card from the umpire, ostensibly for pushing, but it looked to the bench as though she was just trying to regain her feet after being knocked around by the Vic chick. They had a short run in our defensive area but couldn’t do anything that caused us any bother.

Lorraine took the ball for a long run in attack and we ended up with another short corner. No luck there, but we kept the ball in attack and Jan sent a beauty across the top of the Vic D which we all admired – and forgot to connect with! Some even play for a while, with the Vics bringing the ball to visit Alene but Karen Allan snuck it out from under their noses and leapt out of our circle and into attack. We earned another short corner, which ended in a penalty stroke. Macca gave it a great shove, but the ball refused to cooperate. We finished the half with 10 minutes of strong attacking play, Karen Allan getting knocked to the ground and Jan doing a great job of channelling the players out to the side.

Half time and the Vics were looking rattled. Their coach was sorting through his bag of tricks and looking for something special but didn’t have a lot to choose from.

We hit the pitch for the second half and the Vics had the ball. There was a lot of oestrogen on the pitch, with a very physical presence exuded by the Vics. Margie and Jan were particular targets of hips, shoulders and elbows, but remained strong over the ball. Alene was on fire and had some brilliant saves and clearances. Macca again was strong in defence as was Karen Adams. The Vics had 3 short corners in a row but our defence was far too good for them.

Karen Allan picked up the ball from the resultant 16 yard hit and started another attacking drive. We got into their D and had a few long corners, but no really good chances until the 23rd minute when Leone narrowly missed knocking one in from a huge cross pass from the midfield. The Vics had a short burst in attack, but we soon had a 16 and Lorraine was off and running again. By this stage, with 6 minutes to go, the Vic coach pulled off their keeper to load an extra field player onto the pitch. Despite their efforts, WA stayed in the attack, driving the ball into the D repeatedly. Karen Allan got knocked over yet again, but it’s lucky that she’s good at bouncing back.

The final siren went with the game ending in our favour and the grand final looming early Saturday morning. Recovery at the pools again, then we returned to the stadium to watch the 40’s. The sun dropped and the chill came up, so we trooped home for an early dinner and bed to rest up for our big day.

Goal scorer: Karen Allan

Result: WA 1 - VIC 0

Final WA vs NSW - Saturday, October 6, 2007

Another fine day with an early start, and another birthday to celebrate. Today was Helen’s turn to be feted, but as we were all really scummy, we hadn’t got her a birthday cake, but promised her a gold medal instead….

Our pre-game talk in the change rooms, including our stars from resident astrologer Madame Legs, gave everyone a very positive outlook for the game. Even plague proportions of bogong moths couldn’t dampen our spirits (how Leone knew they taste like popcorn is not something we wanted to think about for too long…)

The stadium resounded to the sound of piped music and the warm-up progressed at a good pace as the team trapped balls and dodged the sprinklers. Toss concluded, WA had the ball to start and a massive forward pass by Lorraine sent the ball flying into the NSW defensive 25 and began our attack. They responded by sending the ball straight back towards our D and kindly gave us a 16 yard hit for troubling us. It was anyone’s game for the next 10 minutes (although one umpire in particular was doing her best to help NSW). Some great defensive work and linking play between Jane and Lorraine saw us take the action to the NSW end of the field, but they turned it around and helped by the people in pink, got themselves two short corners against us at the 10 and 12 minute marks respectively. The defensive battery led by Alene kept the ball away from the goal, with Helen damned certain no-one was spoiling her plans for a birthday gold medal.

Another 8 minutes of play with WA leading the attack, foiled by a couple of NSW strikers (and a pink person) saw Helen again work up a sweat to clear the ball out of our defensive area. A fantastic run by Jane, with a cross pass to Margie sitting high in the NSW circle just missed scoring us a goal. We had a couple more chances with both a short and a long corner at the 28 minute mark, but no luck this time. A flurry of free hits to WA and some strong attacking play saw us finish the half with a penalty corner, but still no score on the board.

While NSW slunk off to the change rooms, the WA team stayed in the dugout and listened to Bev’s half time pep-talk. The fruit and jelly snakes were passed around as energy boosters, as we had done throughout the tournament. Refreshed and ready, the team hit the pitch for the second half.

Our cheer squad up in the stands had been very encouraging for the first half and proved just as supportive in the second. NSW started with the ball, only to find it quickly turned over by the black and gold of the west. WA was in the NSW in the first minutes of the game, with a short corner two minutes after the starting whistle had blown. Some strong attacking play didn’t quite pay off, so our mid-fielders had a run with the ball, before we had another short corner at 10 minutes into the half. No luck here, but we kept up the pressure.

NSW had a run with the ball and took a short against us after 14 minutes, but Alene, Karen Adams and the gang kept the ball out. Another corner 4 minutes later and we witnessed a magnificent save by Alene. The NSW long corner after that saw Smarty take a magic run along the baseline and we were into the attack again.

Great work by the WA midfield, and we ran the ball around the field. NSW had another short at a short corner, but they were not going to be buying any lotto tickets – would take them more than luck to get through our defence! A magic run by the WA attack gave us a short corner with 9 minutes left on the clock. The push, the trap, the slap of the ball against the backboard and we were one up! Great work by Captain Macca – WA were in front!

NSW went into panic mode and tried to score from a couple of short corners, but Alene was having none of that. Yet another magnificent save, and great clearances by Helen and Karen Adams sent the ball into attack again. Two more short corners and some more dodgy umpiring saw the final whistle blow with the score 1-0 in our favour. The gold was ours! For the first time in the history of the O55s comp, WA were the winners!

Unfortunately, we had to wait for the closing ceremony before we could get our hands on them, so we stayed and the stadium to watch the O50s battle out their gold medal game (unfortunately they earned the silver) and the 40’s hit the turf for their 3rd v 4th match. We then went out with the 50s for lunch to celebrate our medals, and toast Helen with champagne for her birthday.

We headed back to the apartments to pack before we could leave for the stadium and the closing ceremony. We watched the end of the very exciting O35s gold medal fight between Vic and Tassie, with Tassie our favorites. One all at the end of normal time, same at the end of extra time, even at the end of the first round of penalty flicks – excitement plus! In the end, the Tassie keeper proved best on ground and Tassie won in the “golden flick” section of the comp. It was heart-stoppingly exciting and a great way to finish the tournament.

We all trooped out onto the turf for the presentations, and the 55s were first to receive medals. A minor administrative glitch saw them give us medals for the O35s…. we were young at heart enough to accept them, but happily returned them for our correct division medals. From the stadium, we returned to the apartments to go our for our final team dinner and distributed our secret friends’ gifts (to much amusement) before making presentations to our gold medal supporter Jamie (Jane’s son), coach Bev, manager Nico and our bevy of bus drivers: Lorraine, Macca, Lyn C and Nico. Tired but happily bearing the weight of our medals around our necks, we walked through the Macquarie Uni campus to the apartments for the last time. A few more things were shoved into suitcases for tomorrow’s early start and then most of the team hit the sack (unlike the party-hards from other teams).

At the bus by 5am (some cursing Nico’s mandate, but all made it) we loaded the busses and headed out for the airport. A quiet trip home, to be greeted by enthusiastic family and friends, and the tournament was over. A great time was had by all, new skills learned, friendships made and renewed and promises made for next year. All in all, a highly successful championship, made all the more enjoyable by the wonderful people on the team. See you next year!

Goal scorer: Catherine McFarlane

Result: WA 1 - NSW 0

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