One chance down, one to go.
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Bathurst City has been forced into sudden death mode in Saturday’s women’s Premier League Hockey preliminary final at Bob Roach Field against Bathurst St Pat’s.
Lithgow Panthers kept a dynamic City offence scoreless, 2-0, in last weekend’s major semi-final.
Now City has to take on the only team to get the better of it in the 2017 regular season.
“We’ve had more good games this season than ordinary games, but I don’t think there’s been a game where we can say we’ve played badly,” Bathurst City coach Lisa Quinn said of the major semi-final.
“In the middle of the field in last week’s game we held things together, it was just making that entry into the circle that was difficult for us.
“I’ve changed the line-up around a bit to give us some more firepower up front.
“For some reason the team seemed really stretched out, which meant when our forwards were getting the ball that they weren’t getting much support.”
This Saturday’s preliminary final promises to be a beauty, given only a single goal has separated the two clubs in their meetings this season.
They’ve got a lot of senior players who know how to move the ball around quickly in the midfield.
- Lisa Quinn
City drew first blood thanks to its 3-2 win before the Saints struck back with a 2-1 success.
Quinn knows, from those meetings and other Saints matches, exactly what to expect from the blue and white.
“I’ve been keeping an eye on them because I expected them to always be in contention for the finals,” she said.
“They’ve showed that they know how to beat us. They play a very physical and strong game.
“They’ve got a lot of senior players who know how to move the ball around quickly in the midfield. We also have a nice combination of experience and younger players who are very quick in that area.”
City will receive a welcome boost to the midfield battle as Brooke McFadden rejoins the squad.
The clash kicks off at 1pm.