Although a draw isn’t the result Confederates wanted from Saturday’s women’s Premier League Hockey derby, it does keep the side’s slim finals hopes alive heading into the last fortnight of the regular season.
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But, the red and blues are now sweating heavily on a number of factors outside their control.
Mainly, Confederates need Bathurst City and Bathurst St Pat’s to come to the party if they’re to steal fourth place from rivals Ex-Services.
Thanks to Saturday’s hard-fought, 1-1 draw the two Orange sides remain deadlocked in fourth, both on 28 competition points and both boasting a goal difference of five.
Considering Ex-Services have a game in hand, Confederates need City and St Pat’s to account for the blue and golds over the next two weeks, by a reasonable margin.
The red and blues also need to either defeat reigning champions Lithgow Panthers in the last round or if they do go down keep the margin as small as possible, to have a chance of edging Ex-Services out on goal difference.
Admitting having little control over their fate is far from ideal, Confederates skipper Annabelle Tierney also reiterated her coach’s recent messages that the side has exceeded expectations this season and if it manages to sneak into the four, that’s a bonus.
“We worked out that we’ve already achieved what we wanted to this season, finishing in the top five, so I’m really, really proud of what we’ve done, “ she beamed.
“Everyone’s given 100 per cent (all year), which is all we can do.
“[Making the finals is] still possible.
“We’ve got Panthers in the last round though, which is going to be a really tough one.
“We’ll have to go back to training and work hard, then we’ll have to go really hard in that one and hopefully we can get the result we need but we’ll just have to wait and see.