An early Charlie Howarth goal was all that separated Molong and Ex-Services Blue in Saturday’s Orange Hockey Association women’s division one grand final, thanks to the Magpies’ dogged, backs-to-the-wall defensive effort.
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Howarth gave Molong a 1-0 lead inside the opening five minutes and while it ultimately proved enough to seal the title for the Magpies, her side was constantly forced to hold the powerful Ex-Services side at bay to do so.
“We just defended for so much of the game, it was a pretty dogged, determined effort and I think that’s definitely what got us over the line,” Molong’s Hayley Lyons said.
“Our goalkeeper Amanda Fowler saw more action than she had all season and our fullbacks did too, they all played really, really well.”
The effort of Molong’s backline was particularly influential in the second half of the thrilling decider, Lyons explained.
“I’d say of the 35 minutes in the second half, we were defending for 30 of them,” she said.
“Right down to the last minute, when Ex-Services had a couple of short corners. The second one was the last play and we said we just had to hold them out, we couldn’t play extra-time (because of how fatigued the side was).
“Luckily we did hold them out, it was a really good win.”
Lyons said she has “absolutely no idea” when Molong’s last top grade premiership was won.
“I really don’t know, I know Molong’s had teams in the past but has struggled at times with numbers. But we did really well this season, the only losses we had were to Confederates,” she said, the Magpies beat Feds in the major semi-final before Ex-Services knocked the red and blues out the week after.
“It’s just a really great win for Molong, in a season when hockey’s doing really well.”
The Molong club has enjoyed it’s biggest year in terms of juniors, and will unveil it’s new synthetic surface on Saturday afternoon.
In the other women’s grand finals CYMS RPT downed Canobolas Tigers 1-0 in division two, while CYMS Vics defeated clubmates CYMS Hogan’s in division three.
In the division four decider, Ex-Services Whites accounted for Canobolas Reds 1-0.