Day three of the Football NSW Junior Girls Championships presented mixed results for Western sides, with the presence of a strong head wind at Lady Cutler fields, making conditions difficult for all sides.
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The under-16s were once again dominant producing the only win of the morning matches against a fierce Metro North, in what was a tight 1-0 encounter.
They went on to claim 2-0 victory over Country Riverina in the afternoon to maintain second place on the ladder.
Not all was lost in the Under-12s. While they were outplayed 2-1 to Metro North, they gave the Sydney side a run for their money, in front 1-0 at half-time.
Unfortunately it was a lead they were unable to maintain as the Sydney side switched on in the second half slotting in two goals, the home side started to fade.
The loss certainly got them revved up as they came out firing against Riverina with Clare Hunt of Young bagging a double they took out the match 2-0.
Hunt was named most valuable player, after her first goal was forced off the field from a collision with her opponent, but fought back to re-enter the match to score her second.
The under-14s had some close encounters but were unable to produce winning results in both their matches, falling 1-0 against Metro North and drawing with Country Riverina 0-0.
With Riverina considered to be a more evenly matched game, the under-14 had a number of lapses in concentration throughout the 60 minutes, going with the wind in the first half they had some of their best chances to score, yet failed to do so.
Payge Ryan was a stand out in the middle, while Sophie Humphries provided a number of saves as goalie and Lydia Nancarrow was quick in defence.
To date they’ve had just one win, two draws and three losses, and coach Aidran Cox said while his side are slowly improving, they needed to show more consistency if they want to win matches.
“It was hard in the conditions to control the ball well out there today,” he said.
“But we are not intense enough for the full game, we play for periods and then drop off.
“I thought we put in an excellent effort against Metro North to go down by one is good considering.”
The final seconds of their Riverina match was intense, with their opponents gaining a corner ball, Western headed it to the goalie who hit it in their own goal. Luckily the referee had already blown the full-time whistle.
In both their matches the under-16s girls continued strongly with some well executed play. Orange-based coach Richard Gathercole was particularly pleased the girls didn’t concede a goal against Metro North.
“It was a very tight match, he said.
“Metro North came out firing early in the piece, but we were able to hold out game well and took control in the later part of the first half.
“Close to the break we managed to score through Eden Stottard. This was built up off some solid play by Tayla Braithwaite and Meaghan Kempson.”
The girls had a few chances to score in the second stanza, but didn’t get there.
There was great concerns when Braithwaite pulled up halfway through the second half with a hamstring complaint.
Leaving the field, the captain was quick to return, putting it down to just a niggle.
“Defensive wise we were great. Leah Draper, Katie Long, Kiara North and Aimee Morris put in a tremendous effort,” Gathercole said.
“Georgina Harris, and Kelsey Sherman also had very good games overall.”
