Orange CYMS have made no secret of their issues converting chances this season, but the green and golds found their mojo in front of goal in Saturday’s all-Orange women’s Premier League Hockey derby, comprehensively beating Ex-Services 6-1.
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Former Hockeyroo Jade Georgiou and Canberra Strikers’ 2017 skipper Meredith Bone did the bulk of the damage, combining to score five of those goals, their side shot to a 3-1 lead by half-time and slotted another three unanswered goals after the break.
“I was just in the right place at the right time,” Georgiou, who scored a hat-trick, said.
“We’ve been creating a lot of chances every week but we haven’t always been converting them. We spoke a lot about where we needed to be inside the circle, and worked on a few different things at training to try and help there and it came off.
“The vibe was really good training all week actually, and it’s really nice to be able to put those things we’ve worked on into practice once we get out on the pitch.”
Georgiou explained it wasn’t a complete walkover though, despite the scoreline, giving the short-staffed blue and golds credit where it was due – Ex-Services had just 12 turn out, compared to CYMS’ 14.
“They’re always tough, they don’t give up and they’re never a team to be underestimated, they did make it tough for us. We were just able to convert the chances we created,” Georgiou said.
“We played with a pretty fast, upbeat tempo and I’m not sure if that was a factor or not, we were just pretty good all around really. There was some really good ball movement, good stick-to-stick passing, we connected really well and, as I said, we managed to get the ball in the back of the net.
“When you’ve got your critical mass of players on the same page and working together well, it tends to come together and it did for us.”
Georgiou opened the scoring in just the fourth minute and backed that up with her second in the seventh, giving her side an early 2-nil buffer.
Pip Mannix extended that lead to three in the 18th minute but Ex-Services managed to peg one back not long after, Rochelle Burcher finding the back of the net nine out from half-time to cut the gap to two.
With Ex-Services looking to produce a comeback, Bone made her presence felt just after the break to hit the mark and push CYMS’ lead back to three goals.
The two sides traded chances throughout the middle stages of the second half, before Georgiou completed her hat-trick in the 66th minute and Bone found the mark again three minutes later to blow the margin out to five.
The win combined with Bathurst City’s shock loss to Confederates pushes CYMS back to third and two points clear of the reigning champions.
They remain two points shy of Lithgow Panthers in second and another two behind competition leaders Bathurst St Pat’s, and with a tough run into the finals it becomes apparent how crucial CYMS’ win on Saturday could be in the big scheme.
The green and golds face Bathurst City this weekend before a match-up with fifth-placed Bathurst Souths, then face the tricky Confederates and St Pat’s in the last fortnight.
Considering the strength of CYMS’ midfield and their unbelievable defensive record – they’ve conceded just six goals this year, five less than the next-best defensive side – Georgiou said, as it has been all season, consistently converting is her side’s challenge.
“Hopefully we can keep finding the back of the net (in the last month of the regular season),” Georgiou said.
“Everything else has been working really for us.”
- ORANGE CYMS 6 (Jade Georgiou 3, Meredith Bone 2, Pip Mannix) def EX-SERVICES 1 (Rochelle Burcher)