‘The thing for us is the work rate and the effort’
HOCKEY: Just one goal separated Park Avenue and Southern Suburbs Black in a hard-fought contest in Round 5 of the RHA 2020 Cup.
Park Avenue half back Tori-Lee Cutts slotted a penalty corner in the first half and the scorers were not troubled again in the Division 1 game at Kalka Shades.
The women are playing nine-a-side in the revised 2020 season, and Park Avenue had just one sub yesterday.
Winning coach Jeff James said it was a “great effort” from his team.
“It was tight pretty much the whole game,” he said.
“There were a few periods where Souths had most of the possession, particularly early they held the ball quite well, but we just frustrated them into making a few mistakes.
“The thing for us is the work rate and the effort; the girls just keep putting in and that’s probably been the most pleasing thing all season.”
Park Avenue’s defence stood tall, led by goalkeeper Linda-May Palframan who made some crucial saves and skipper Tyneille Madden who defused a number of Souths’ attacking raids.
Taylah Vidler and Shanelle James stepped up from under-15, playing well in their second game of the day.
James said he was enjoying coaching for the nine-a-side format, which gave players more space and made for free-flowing, entertaining hockey.
Park Avenue are on top of the leaderboard. They have lost just one game – to Southern Suburbs Gold in Round 1.
Their next opponents are Frenchville, who scored an 8-1 win over Southern Suburbs Gold yesterday.
RHA 2020 Cup results:
Division 1 women: Park Avenue d Southern Suburbs Black 1-nil; Frenchville d Southern Suburbs Gold 8-1
Division 1 men: Southern Suburbs d Park Avenue 3-1; Wanderers d Frenchville 4-2
