Our top women’s side headed into round 3 with two losses, against a Camberwell side that had one win and one draw already on the board.
The game started at a frantic pace with Altona keen to atone for their two poor first half showings in the first two rounds, and Camberwell not wanting to give an inch. After a couple of chances for both sides, Camberwell opened the scoring just five minutes in, to take an early lead, but it lasted just three minutes before Altona converted a penalty corner through a Tegan Purser drag flick. After the early goals the game settled down and both sides struggled for circle penetrations until the 25 minute mark, when Marion Dickinson was able to get a clean shot away – the shot was well saved but Kate Gillis jumped on the rebound and calmly flicked the ball in for her first goal for Altona. However, once again the lead was short lived with Camberwell grabbing a goal back late in the first half following a scramble in the circle. Altona finished the half well, with a few good chances, including a great shot from Emma Aitken, but the Camberwell goalie was up to the task and the teams went into half time locked at 2 all.
Camberwell came out strongly in the second half and put ten minutes of sustained pressure on the Altona defence, two goal line saves by Lauren Deppeler and some great work from goalkeeper Carrie Evans couldn’t keep Camberwell out and they put in a penalty corner to take a dangerous 3-2 lead. Altona was stunned into action and the girls fought back to gain control for the rest of the game, the pressure was shown on the scoreboard when a great pass from Danielle Schubach found Steph Sarantis in the circle who did the rest with a deflection past the keeper. The goal set up a tense final 20 minutes of the match. With 9 minutes remaining Altona’s two Canadian’s once again combined and Gillis was able to burn past the Mentone defence to set up Phoebe Rothfield who one-timed the ball into the backboard for her first SL1 goal. Camberwell once again fought back but the Altona defence was strong, and Altona’s experienced players shored up the result by winding down the clock in the final minutes, much to the delight of the crowd and making sure that Camberwell could not gain possession to mount one last attack.
Final score Altona 4-3 Camberwell.
Goals: Purser, Gillis, Sarantis, Rothfield.
Best: Gillis, Kerley, Aitken, Deppeler, Schubach.
To view the article about the game in the local paper, please click here.