Single Goal Separates Hills And Gators
Pine Hills 1 (O’Halloran 47’)
The Gap 0
HT 0-0
Played at James Drysdale Reserve
Pine Hills collected an important three points with a 1-0 win over The Gap which could easily have gone the other way in their Round Eleven Mt Franklin Women’s Premier League game at James Drysdale Reserve on Saturday night. The winning strike arrived two minutes after the halftime break and came from the boot of Caitlin O’Halloran, her first goal of the year, who humped a hopeful ball forward which flew over the outstretched arms of Jessica Anderson in goal. The Gap will be bitterly disappointed not to have at least taken a point after dominating the first half and creating the best opportunities of the evening including a shot from Sarah Miller which thumped against the upright and ricocheted back into the field of play. Hills best period of the game was at the start of both halves but they struggled all evening to create anything meaningful inside the penalty area. With time winding down and with both teams adjusting their tactical structure, The Gap attacked in waves but were unable to get anything from the Pythons defence which did an excellent job of shutting down their opponents all evening. In the 82nd minute, Lauren Askin had a great chance but saw her left foot strike brilliantly saved by Kathleen Page who stuck out a glove and palmed the ball onto the far post. In a game lacking entertainment both teams played some stylish football, rarely missing a pass or turning the ball over in the tackle. In fact, both teams were so quick on the ball they just about cancelled each other out which is a great sign for both clubs going forward. Ultimately, in a vital game, The Gap had the majority of field position and looked the likely winner and yet were unable to avoid losing which could have a major impact in the race for the semi-finals. Pine Hills shore up their third place.
FBMedia Player Of The Match: Sarah Miller (The Gap).
Tough to find a stand-out in such a tight defensive contest but Miller was excellent in the first half and solid in the second.
Coaches Remarks:
Ben Fuhrmann (Pine Hills): “Pretty tight contest, we’re not clicking going forward at the moment so it’s good to get the points. Happy with that and hopefully we can improve and keep ourselves in the top four. It’s good to get a bit of a jump on The Gap because they are right on our tail. They were good tonight, very good...probably worth a point but we’ll take it.”
Kelvin Wheeler (The Gap): “First half started a bit slow...I thought we dominated the first half, hit the post and missed our chances. They came out and scored from a long range shot right after the break but after that we got back in, passed well, hit the post again. Thought we were worth at least a draw but that’s the way it goes sometimes.”
Team line-ups
Pine Hills: Page, Lemke, Bryant, Lloyd, Young, Nisbet, Sherman, Dunne, Doyle, Fuller, O’Halloran. Subs: Cantrell, Houlden, McCarthy-Griffiths.
The Gap: Anderson, Warwick, Dillon, Dibley, L’Estrange, Chalmers, Sandford, Miller, Hogg, Messinis, Askin.
Subs: Harper, Muir, Silva, Besa.
REFEREE: Andrew Foster
