CONFEDERATES' defender Sam Stevenson was left lamenting loose first-half defending after her side lost out 6-nil to Bathurst Souths in its women's Premier League Hockey clash on Saturday.
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Played at Orange Hockey Centre, Souths scored three goals in each half to secure the win, with star Jess Watterson bagging a hat-trick.
"We just didn't mark up very well in the first half, that's how they got ahead," Stevenson said.
"I don't think we played badly by any means, and the score line definitely didn't reflect the game. We made Souths work pretty hard for their goals."
Ali Stanford opened the scoring for Souths in the fourth minute before Watterson grabbed her first in the 17th.
Stanford rammed her second home four minutes later to extend Souths' lead to three, with the scores remaining unchanged until the break.
Stevenson said Confederates lifted in the second half, but were unable to convert several opportunities inside the Bathurst team's circle.
As a result, Souths' three second half goals went unanswered.
Michelle Somers scored shortly after the break, and Watterson put any hope of a Confederates resurgence to bed when she scored her second and third in the space of two minutes.
"We had quite a few opportunities in the second half, we attacked very well I thought," Stevenson said.
"We just couldn't convert. I think if we had of defended a little better early in that first half it could have been a different result.
"Souths strung plenty of passes together though, and they put their chances away.
"Lucy Rheinberger had a great game, as she usually does, and I thought all of our girls played really well."
BATHURST SOUTHS 6 (Jessica Watterson 3, Ali Stanford 2, Michelle Somers) def ORANGE CONFEDERATES 0
