IT wasn’t convincing, but a win is a win.
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Bathurst St Pat’s finally tasted victory in the women’s Premier League Hockey 2014 competition with a 1-0 win over Kinross-CYMS at Bathurst on Saturday.
A depleted Pat’s side played another team struggling for numbers in Kinross-CYMS, but it was the early goal of Georgina McGregor that proved the difference in a tiring affair.
McGregor got onto the end of a pass into the circle and her deflection was the only time the scorekeeper was troubled.
With representative players Karen Fieldus, Kristy Ekert, Georgie Adams and Kate Hamer missing from the Pat’s line up, a young team stepped up to deliver the first four-point game for the blue and whites.
While there was ultimately only one goal, each side had their moments.
A Kinross-CYMS penalty corner blasted into the left post, while a shot from Tania Jachi went just wide minutes later.
Siobhan Larkin also missed a golden open opportunity when she couldn’t control the ball after finding herself unmarked inside the circle.
Pat’s had several penalty corners blocked in the last 20 minutes of the game and, on two occasions, had crosses sent through the circle with no one on the end of them to finish.
Luckily for regular Saints coach Bec Clayton, who filled in at goalkeeper for Fieldus, her time as custodian wasn’t a troubled one.
Kinross-CYMS made the journey to Bathurst without reserves, but the side managed to remain competitive throughout the game, even gaining momentum in the final five minutes.
Coach Pete Shea was proud of his players and the way they handled themselves in the face of a side with more numbers at their disposal.
“I thought we played pretty well for the team we’ve got. The momentum is pretty up and down at the moment with the way the team is going. Everyone tried their heart out today and I can’t fault any of the players and we’re probably unlucky not to get a point,” she said.
Pat’s assistant coach Brad Fulton said time was running short for his side to get themselves back into the PLH competition.
“One in a row. We knew we had to get a win. The girls have been playing okay, but if we were going to get one, it was going to be now or never,” he said.
“Our problem is just the demographic of the team. There’s a lot of new players and their lack of knowing what to do out there is forcing the older, more experienced girls to do a lot of the work.
“The girls that should have been attacking were being forced to defend and that’s why we were scrambling in attack.”
BATHURST ST PAT’S 1 (Georgina McGregor) def KINROSS-CYMS 0