posted on September 20, 2006 10:07
The ladies first team were one of seven sides participating in the inaugural women’s Copper 8s tournament in Waiuku on Sunday.
The eight-a-side event at Massey Park was held the morning after prizegiving and there were more than a few dusty looking players when cars pulled up at the ground before 9am.
The round-robin phase saw the ladies come up against Waiuku’s first and reserve sides, Huntly, Drury, Mt Albert Ponsonby and Pukekohe’s own reserve side.
After opening with a 3-1 over Mt Albert, the ladies faced off against first division Waiuku.
Playing 2-3-2, the Maroons looked a little rusty to begin with but quickly came around and dominated the second half of the match.
However they were forced to take a 1-0 loss when a Waiuku player’s sliced cross was caught by the howling wind and deposited over stranded goalkeeper Sonja Abbott and into the back of the net.
Grrrrrrrr…
Their third game saw the ladies, sporting the beautiful lime green strip, face their reserve side and, with both teams not wanting to hurt each other, an uninspiring 0-0 draw resulted.
Huntly were next up for the ladies and they pounded the Waikato side 7-0.
Nikki Birch grabbed a second half hat-trick before being forced out of the rest of the tournament after being clattered from behind in the final minute.
But the biggest cheer of the day came when Nicole grabbed her first goal of the season with a lovely finish during the first half.
Drury were next and the Maroons needed a win to move into the box seat for a berth in the final.
They were the better team and led 1-0 thanks to Doddy’s opportunistic volley from distance before conceding a late volleyed equalizer.
With the team now flat and tired, it took until the second half to take a 1-0 win over Waiuku’s reserve team and claim a spot in the plate final against the same side.
That final was one-way traffic from the opening whistle as the ladies banged six goals in with Niecy and Whippet grabbing a hat-trick each.
The Maroons carved open their opposition at will with a performance which received high praise from the watching Waiuku faithful at the presentations afterwards.
So, as a warm-up to their own tournament next weekend, the ladies took $100, a lovely plate and some shiny medals for winning the plate final.
Not a bad day’s work really.
The ladies reserves had a great day also - taking a 3-0 victory over Huntly. Guest player Nicole Kraakman grabbed a double while Angela Pearce, in her first action of the season, scored the other.
Huge thanks to Blair who provided a tent and manned the barbeque throughout the day and Happy who helped organisers by refereeing several matches.
Roll on Sunday and the ladies tournament at Bledisloe.