Macedon 40 Won 38 Riddells Creek
We had a full side for the first time in a long time this week, so I hoping for some good things.
We started with what has become our normal starting 7 and we got a good jump on Riddell, shooting 4 to their 1 but this was short lived as the game became a goal for goal fight. We were careful with the ball and made sure that our passes were accurate and not wasted, but it’s the 3 coach killers of offside and a held that was stopping us from racing ahead. Demi F played the WA well taking all centre passes for the quarter and then the feeds and assists were shared between both Demi’s. Our goalers were moving well but the 4 misses were starting to hurt us.
Defenders were not staying in play with 7 contact calls and 5 obstructions. Being out of play gave Riddell an opportunity to capitalise on the 2 on 1 scenario but it also let them know we were there, with 8 deflections. Ball was falling back into Riddells attack end because we weren’t fighting hard for the best position especially around the ring. Bella and Aleigha did rebound 3 of Riddells missed shots and had some impact because they shot 7 from 12 potential shots. We were up by 1. 8 -7.
In an attempt to improve accuracy Eliza took the GS bib, Georgia moved out to GA and Georgia H came on into WD. We were penalised again for 4 coach killers, making that 7 coach killers for the game so far and just the 1 bad pass. We mixed up our centre passes with G and Demi sharing the lad. This meant Demi could do most of the feeding into our goalers. Eliza and Georgia shot 11 goals and missed 4 each. Lucky for us we had a good rebounding position and recovered 5 rebounds for a second attempt.
Our defence was solid and with a change of umpire we were allowed to contest and the results were 7 intercepts and 7 tips. Bella was solid this quarter with 4 deflections and 2 intercepts. Everyone on court was putting in a solid defensive effort but Riddell were just starting to find their grove and capitalising on our mistakes. Their GS kept them in the game shooting 7 of their 12 goals. We were out scored 12- 11 and the half time score was sitting at a draw.
I had so much confidence in our team that I made more changes, in an attempt to strengthen our team and try and get a few goals ahead. Nellie came back on into GA, to see if she could shoot more accurately than G and Kaz came on into GK, hoping that her height would give us a few more rebounds and put their goalers under shooting pressure. Later in the quarter another change was made with Demi Y coming off with a head class.
3 more coach killers bringing our total to 10 for the game and just the 3 bad passes. We needed to use the back line on some centre passes and found it hard to deliver the ball past their box. Ash and Demi F, when in WA killed the feeds and assists and accurately delivered 13 balls into our goalers. Eliza was more accurate this quarter and what she missed she rebounded, while Nellie gave us fresh legs but similar accuracy to Georgia, shooting 3 from 5 attempts.
Kaz and Bella were heavily penalised in the circle with the change of umpire and not adjusting quick enough to the calls. 9 contacts between them, that too high if we wanted to put them under pressure. All our recoveries came from mid court players (Bella, Georgia H and Demi). We had no tips this quarter compared to 7 in the 2nd and 8 in the first). Riddell converted 10 goals with 4 misses. We had a 2 goal lead heading into the last quarter after giving up a 4 goal lead. The 3rd quarter was full of goal runs with only 4 single shots being scored from both teams.
Georgia came back on into GA, replacing Nellie. We needed accurate shooting if we were going to win this game. Ash stayed in WA after coming on due to Demi’s head clash and Demi F moved out to WD. This quarter had 3 coach killers with our goalers contacting, ramping the total to 13 for the game. And we had the highest number of bad passes for the game with 4. When we did get opportunity, we were losing it in the attack end before we had a chance to shoot the ball. Lucky for us our goalers turned it on with shooting and shot at 100%, 9 from 9.
Our defenders really held up the team in the last quarter with no turnovers and 7 clean recoveries and 7 tips. Demi F was solid with 3 intercepts and Bella 2 intercepts, 1 gain and 2 tips. Kaz started moving her feet and adjusting to the umpire and this cause 4 deflections. Riddell equally converted 9 goals with 3 misses. They had the best rebounding position earning back 2 of their missed goals, something our circle defenders will have to focus on at training this week.
We pushed the game out to take a 3 goal lead but let Riddell back in with a 2 goal run and then a goal to goal finish. A narrow escape and the 4 points were ours. 40 -38.
