St George WSL Versus Northern Tigers

Round 7 of the WSL dawned to a most unusual sight.
The sun was shining!!!

12’s
The 12’s had their first taste of defeat for the season, going down 1-2 to a strong Tigers team. It was a game that was billed as the game of the round and it lived up to expectations. Both squads played some great football and the Saints girls should hold their head high. The penalty save by our goalkeeper Peta Koinis was the highlight of the whole day. Our keeping coach, Spiro, can be justifiably proud! Special mention also (from your humble reporter) go to Alison and Phoebe. Both played their hearts out in a team where every single girl gave it their utmost. I eagerly await the round 2 between these two teams.

14’s
After 21 days without a game or training session, it was always going to be a big ask for our 14’s.
However, the girls responded beautifully. In an absorbing contest the ball moved up and down the field with both teams looking to gain the ascendency. St George took the lead through a goal by Stephanie and held firm till about 5 minutes to go, when the Tigers equalised. The 14’s have now drawn three of their 5 games and I have no doubt that their first win is imminent.(Hopefully, Wednesday night against EUNSW!)

16’s
Up against the competition front runners and one of the favourites to win the competition, our 16’s knew they were in for a torrid affair. The Tigers took the lead in the first half . We then responded to level 1-1 with a great team goal. Tigers scored again in injury time (a good trick as there is no injury time in 16’s!). and  we went to oranges a tad unlucky to be down 2-1. The Tigers scored again in the second half to run out eventual winners 3-1. This was another riveting contest and another game I will be eagerly anticipating watching in the second round. Special mention must be made of Annika’s strong work in the mid field and the tireless efforts of Beth in the back line.

Reserve Grade
With a host of injuries and absences to the senior’s squad, we were forced to field a depleted team in reserve grade. Once again, A Maras, A. Sutherland and her sister M Sutherland showed their club spirit by backing up after playing their 16’s game. Thanks girls, it is very much appreciated. Whilst the final scorecard showed a loss by 0-4, I do not believe that the score line adequately reflected the game. We pressed forward on many occasions and were unlucky not to find the back of the old onion bag on a few occasions. The commitment is definitely there and hopefully we can break the drought this weekend.
Special thanks to Veronica for standing in as goal keeper.

First Grade
The first order of business on Sunday was to re-introduce the girls to each other. With no games or training for 21 days, I think some of the girls had forgotten what their team mates looked like! We looked very sharp in the first 20 minutes and took the lead via a Mel Toumbelekis goal (yes Mel, we know they got in wrong in the newspaper!). The Tigers responded with 2 quick goals and our heads seemed to drop slightly.
Fatigue eventually took its toll and the Tigers ran out comfortable 1-5 winners. Highlight of the day for me was watching Telle and Maree put on the GK’s jumper.  Hopefully with a couple of training sessions this week the girls can turn around their season this Sunday against Springwood at Springwood.

By
The Groupie.