A HUGE second-half comeback wasn’t enough for Confederates to pull off a miracle win in their women’s Premier League Hockey clash with competition leaders Lithgow Panthers on Saturday.
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Played in Lithgow, ‘Feds eventually went down 7-3, but not before showing the remainder of the competition the undefeated, clinical Panthers unit does indeed have weaknesses.
A dazzling first-half Panthers ambush netted the hosts a quintet of unanswered goals, which ‘Feds coach Mark Pengilly put down to a “lack of defensive structure”.
‘Feds found form in the second stanza, with Belinda Ferguson, Anna Evans and Annette Pakinga all finding the back of the net directly after the break. A fourth opportunity in front of goal presented itself with just 10 minutes remaining, but after the straightforward shot went wide, Panthers kicked back into gear.
“They put another two on us in the last five minutes, and blew it out a bit,” Pengilly said.
“If we put that chance in it’s 5-4, and a very different game.”
Pengilly said while the comeback, and second-half performance was encouraging, the damage had been done in the opening 35 minutes.
“Once we were 5-nil down it was always going to be tough,” Pengilly said.
“Panthers, being Panthers, came back harder and faster in the final 10 or so minutes, as they do. We won the second half, and we’re scoring goals each week.
“We’re getting better, the mood was positive after the game, we just need to start shutting teams down in defence.”
LITHGOW PANTHERS 7 (Abby Wilson 2, Katie Hammant 2, Roxanne Van Veen, Amanda Saladine, Keely Newham) def CONFEDERATES 3 (Belinda Ferguson, Anna Evans, Annette Pakinga).