Maroubra 1 -3 Dunbar Ladies #Championship #SchillersSpiel
The net is the big white thing with lots of holes in it that sits behind the goal. It’s usually pinned to the ground and attached to the crossbar (with leftover bits of electrical tape nicked from an organised teammate’s kitbag). It makes a satisfying “swoosh” noise when you hit it. After a hard fought win on Sunday, Dunbar AAW1s are starting to accept that we may need a little more practice hitting the net.
For the most part our football hits all the right targets. Possession – check. Passing – check. Using our flanks – check. Physicality – check (we could probably check this three times over). But scoring? We probably need to do a bit more work to definitively check that box.
(Quick note here that I probably need this shooting practice much more than any of my teammates. I’ve scored one goal all season and it came only because I got flustered when I ran into space in the front third, so belted the crap out of the ball which scared a defender into ducking, and then the ball made a mighty deflection off her back and into the net.)
Back to the match at hand: despite a few missed shots, the AAW1s still ground out a win at Coral Sea Park on Sunday. It was our first return to matchday football after our departure from the State Cup. So spirits were a little fragile and we were ready for a stirring win. We drew first blood when Dani slid onto a well-aimed cross and put the ball in the net. Our lead climbed to 2-0 when Poppy smacked a right-footed shot that sped past the keeper and into the top corner (making that “swoosh” noise I was talking about).
And a final goal from Niz put the icing on the cake. A hangover may have hindered the heading ability of Team Bun (aka Fran) but Bina was carving in her runs from centre-mid on the weekend. She got no admiration from the referee, however,who apparently didn’t see a clear foul against her inside the box. To ensure I don’t jeopardise our future refereeing decisions, I’ll keep quiet on any match official/”should have gone to Specsavers” comments.
Perhaps we were too relaxed – most likely I was too slow to track back – but we conceded a late goal as Maroubra made the most of a straight counter attack. They managed to get past our keeper Maja – a feat in itself, as she had already spectacularly stopped a Maroubra shot from point blank range earlier in the match.
Special mention to our spectators for the day: the shirtless Jamaican man who added some Caribbean spice to our warm-up with his ghetto blaster, Gordon’s gorgeous dog Georgie (who may or may not be our new assistant coach), and the AA2s who stuck around to watch our first half and were nice enough to get the ball for me when I had to take throw-ins (#muchappreciated).