WEST claimed the prestigious Division 1 women’s title with a nail-biting one-goal victory over Tigers last Saturday.
Both sides worked hard to create opportunity early, but it was West who managed to get on top early with a run from Cody Lewis.
Lewis sprinted into the circle and slapped the ball into the goals, which put her side in the lead in the first five minutes of the game.
It was not long before Tigers to respond with an illegal tackle in the goal circle, resulting in a penalty stroke being awarded.
Association best and fairest player Dana Jones stepped up to the spot and put her team on the board with a well-controlled flick into the back of the net.
West managed to maintain its composure and – with Gemma Ballintyne taking a quick free and catching Tiger’s defence off guard – had a shot at goal that Angela Broad was able to slide past Tiger’s young goalkeeper Hope Hinton to give her team the lead once again.
West’s Ebony Ballintyne and Carly Emerson worked well to hold out their opposition in their deep defence, while Tigers’ Morgan Cooper and Kaitlyn Nisbet were doing the same at the other end.
Tigers midfielder Olivia Turner worked hard to create opportunities for her team, but West’s mother-daughter combination of Michelle and Georgia Clarke had her measure throughout the game.
Both teams continued to work into their attack, but were denied any score until Broad got a fast break to earn a one-on-one opportunity with Hinton.
An infringement from the young keeper stopped Broad from scoring an almost certain goal, which meant a penalty stroke was awarded.
Association’s higher goal scorer, Broad took the stroke and had Hinton committing the wrong way, allowing the ball to sneak over the line for West’s third goal of the half.
With the score 3-1 at the half time break, Tigers had its work cut out, but to its credit it continued to pressure West’s defence in the second half.
Georgia Mustey and Cody Jackson held off a number of runs from Tigers’ Codie Jones and Brooke Marcus, while down the other end the Lunsmann sisters, Lauren and Keely, fought hard to hold out West’s strikers, Charlotte Foote and April Hockey from entering the circle.
Tigers’ persistence and determination resulted in its second goal for the match being scored from a deflection off Cody Hood’s stick.
As a result the difference was just one goal and Tigers’ game began to lift.
With just five minutes left in the game, Tigers was awarded a number of penalty corners to equal the score.
However, young West’s keeper Maddi Clark, performed well under pressure and managed to clear a number of hard shots out of her team’s danger zone.
West’s captain Ashlea Oldfield managed to maintain possession in the dying minutes of the game and – with a few late penalty corners awarded to her team – saw the clock count down to the final whistle, which gave West 2017 premiership honours.
West’s Ebony Ballintyne was awarded the Carmel Bakurski Medal for best on ground.
Final score: West 3 d Tigers 2
