Half-time optimism evaporated for Werribee as it finished with a whimper in a 2-2 draw with bottom-of-the-ladder PEGS in Hockey Victoria women’s Vic League 2 on Saturday.
It was a tale of two halves for the Tigers at the PEGS sports fields. They started the match like a house on fire only to lose the lead in a listless second half.
“We dominated that first half,” Tigers coach Les McAlinden told Star Weekly. “We were playing really well, everything was working. After that, we just went to sleep. Credit to them, they stayed there and kept nipping away.”
The Tigers made a fast start with first-half goals to Rhiannon Downs and Lynda Tivendale, giving them a 2-1 lead at the break.
But their momentum was halted by a shocking second half.
“We played half a game,” McAlinden said. “I was very disappointed.”
It tells you all you need to know about Werribee’s second half that goalkeeper Rachel Catania was best-on-ground.
She made a number of fine saves to preserve the draw for the Tigers.
“She kept us in the game,” McAlinden said. “But for her, we would’ve been in real trouble.”
Which Werribee turns up at Melton on Saturday could go some way to determining the result. Both sides are brimming with young talent.
The Tigers have a teenage captain in Chloe Pickersgill and talented 13-year-old striker Claudia Beamish, who is tipped to be a star.
“She [Beamish] doesn’t even think about how old she is and doesn’t take a step back,” McAlinden said.
“She gets pushed around and just keeps going.”
