TUDOR Wests and Kiwis were separated by only a goal for the second game in a row on Sunday and again it was Tudors taking the points.
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This time 4-3 after clawing back from a 2-nil deficit.
They got back to 2-1 at half-time and then level terms less than two minutes into the second half with a good touch-in from Sam Holt.
Will Finch then put them in front with 29 to go.
Kiwis had a chance to get back level midway through the half but Josh Worpel’s penalty corner drag-flick was saved.
It was their best opportunity for the half, with the Tudors defence swarming around the ball carrier.
Finch’s brother Andrew then got in on the act converting a penalty stroke to push Tudors’ lead out to two.
Kiwis got a few more circle penetrations in the closing stages and pulled a goal back with a minute to go, but Tudors held on to notch their second win over Kiwis after a first-up 1-nil success.
Brad Hall was looking after Tudors in the absence of coach Sam Lobsey, who had just got back from overseas, and liked a lot of what he saw.
He said despite Kiwis scoring within 10 minutes he wasn’t too disappointed with their start and, even at 2-nil down, said they never felt too far away.
“We had a good chat at half-time and came out and scored within the first minute or two,” he said.
“We spoke about having more energy consistently over the half.
“There were periods where we drifted in and out and invited Kiwis back into the game.”
That energy was the key and they created a lot of their chances from that.
They played with a lot of purpose and put a lot of pressure on the Kiwis defence, which brought about errors.
They also really closed down Kiwis’ options well.
“There was some good flat tackling and tackling in pairs,” Hall said.
He thought Andrew Finch, who was captain for the day, really led well from the back.
“He had some really good injections forwards,” he said.
James Psarakis also had an outstanding game in the midfield.
Hall had a busy weekend. He’s also coaching the Tudors women’s side.
They played two games – going down to Waratahs 8-nil on Saturday and Services 5-nil on Sunday.
“It was encouraging,” he said.
“Obviously it was tough playing Saturday as well.”
He said they were probably a bit lucky Services’ radar was off in the first half.
It kept them in it as they went to the break 0-all.
That said, they created some good attacking play through the midfield.
They were hamstrung a bit in attack, with Genelle Tomlinson doing her knee about 20 minutes in, which left them a striker down.
Hall said in the second half they probably ran out of legs but thought there were some good combinations starting to develop.
Sunday’s loss for Kiwis followed a 3-1 win over Services Workies on Saturday – the efforts of which took their toll on Sunday.
They started brightly, but got into a bit of a rut in attack in the second half.
“A lot of people had tired legs, especially in the midfield,” coach Greg Doolan said.
“They get lots of numbers around the ball and every time you receive the ball you’re under pressure.
“If you’re not able to pass the ball quickly you can be in trouble.”
That was the case on Sunday, with Tudors getting a lot of sticks to their passes.
“We weren’t smart enough to hang onto the ball and take a smarter option,” he said.
“We couldn’t get any free flow in our game.
“When we did we were able to come away with a goal or outcome.”
He wasn’t too disappointed with the result after Saturday, and thought they had the opportunity to win the game.