WARATAHS wrapped up their maiden Tamworth women’s first grade major semi-final berth with a six-goal final-round shut-out of Flames on Sunday.
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The 6-nil win denied Services any chance of finishing second despite their own 5-nil win over Tudor Wests.
That had put them briefly in front of Waratahs, and meant Waratahs had to at least draw to earn the double shot at making the grand final.
They were a bit patchy but got a good win in the end.
“The second half was positive,” Waratahs coach Greg Doolan said.
“I thought our first half was very poor.
“We were lucky to be going in up at half-time.”
He thought Flames probably had the better of the opportunities.
“Our goalkeeper, Ash Bailey, kept us in the game,” he said.
“She made a number of good saves.
“The second half was really the opposite.
“We came out and passed the ball well.
“Rarely were we troubled, as we were in the first half.”
The midfield really drove things.
“Our midfield worked well together which gave us more opportunities,” Doolan said.
It was a good display rolling into the finals – the second half anyway – but they will have to be better again against Olympians next week.
“As I said to the girls, we need to repeat that for 70 minutes and need to do it at a higher tempo,” Doolan said.
Katrina Rekunow slotted a double, with Anita Collins, Brittany King, Jess Thomas and Maddi Cryer chiming in with the extras.
Earlier, Tessa Pennefather and Jess McIntosh bagged two each for Services in what was one of their better performances for a while.
“I was really happy with it,” coach Kimmy McLean said.
“What we actually practised at training we did.”
Their passing was the big thing.
“Passes were going to sticks and to space,” she said.
When that’s happening that’s when they play well. When they don’t, they have problems.
It was good throughout the game as was their defence.
“As soon as they got to the 25 we were straight onto them,” she said.
She couldn’t have hoped to see much more for their final game before the finals.
“If we can play like that next week I’ll be really happy,” she said.
They will face old foes Flames in the minor semi-final.
Pennefather was good up front.
McLean thought Kate Perrett and Heather Carr also had strong games.
