Six was the magic number for South United and Waratahs in their Tamworth womens competition first grade clashes on the weekend.
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Souths accounted for Tudor Wests 6-2 on Saturday night while Waratahs defeated Olympians 6-4 in the second of the Sunday games.
The other Sunday fixture saw Services notch a 4-2 win over Flames.
Emily Griffiths struck twice with Sara Dicker and Gabbi D’Ambros also finding the back of the net as Services made it five in a row.
“Comeback queens again,” coach Kimmy McLean commented, referring to the fact they found themselves down 1-nil at half-time.
“At half-time we told them they had to step up. We were being a bit reactive,” she said.
It was the only real criticism of what was a tight contest, with a lot of the game played in the middle.
“Especially towards the end of the second half - our fitness still needs to improve - but I felt our fitness helped us get on top of them,” McLean said.
“They tried to go long and we kept it short.”
“Our passing game is probably the strongest part of our game at the moment.”
Most of their goals came from good linking play.
The midfield drove a lot of that, with Shelley Stevenson, D’Ambros and Dicker strong in the middle.
Souths’ win made it four wins and a draw for the new side, which has played some very good hockey and blooded a lot of young players.
Saturday saw Maeve Galvin make her debut, the 13-year-old acquitting herself very well in the goal.
Denby Budden was looking after the side in the absence of Andrew Davy and Blair Chalmers, and said they started well.
They scored early and were on top for a lot of the first half to lead 4-1 at half-time. It could have been more, Budden said, but for some brilliant goalkeeping from Tudors’ Em Jarrett.
The second half was a more even contest, he said.
“Souths shared the goals around with some penalty corner conversions and good field goals from a goal hungry forward line that has now scored 16 goals in their last two matches,” Budden reported.
Brittany Parker, Jodie Ellis and Brittany Turner jagged two goals apiece and were a constant threat, while Lucy Frame played one of her best game in the midfield.
Brittany King and Abigail Doolan meanwhile both scored twice for Waratahs in their two goal win.
Running the side, Annette Seagrave said they played well and took advantage of some early opportunities. They were up 3-nil at one stage.
“When we utilised our short game we were very dominant but when we reverted to a long game we lost a lot of possession,” she said.
“The work-rate was impressive and the communication better.”
It was the first time they’d had close to their full side for a number of weeks, but still have some polishing to do in the circle. They had a lot of opportunities that they didn’t finish. She said it was a very strong performance from the midfield with King, Doolan and captain Katrina Rekunow their best.