Peptalk: AAW5s Grand Final

It was an inauspicious start to an epic battle. We discovered upon arrival that Coach Elliot was at death’s door with acute Laryngitis. We were grateful for the encouraging duo of David Buck and Margrét Jóna Þórarinsdóttir helping out on the day but I could tell the team were uneasy. We were also missing a few key players, including Aine Corrigan who selfishly decided to get married in Italy instead of hang around an extra 3 weeks. We had managed to reanimate a number of corpses; Sofia came back with a strapped up ankle and Kaz lied through her teeth to get out of a work event.

So we did have the full team of 11 – an unusual turn of events in itself. However looking over to Olympic was daunting…there seemed so many of them! Nevertheless we made a good strong start, winning the toss and forcing the Eagles to scramble in front of their goal for a number of close calls in the first half. By the second, our nerves were beginning to fray. Sweeper Karla Johanna and our defence made some spectacular saves as the Eagles got another wind, but we battled against that yellow and blue tide to hold the bulk of possession. Glory came tantalisingly close when a handball provided us with a penalty. With our hearts in our mouths we watched our usually meticulous Lauren Brachiosaurus, under huge pressure, unable to convert and we were still at nil-all at full time.
With the sun beating down, the ref called for another half hour. We fought and fought but every few minutes another Eagles sub came bouncing onto the pitch all bright-eyed and bushy tailed, while we looked on in utter exhaustion. When the whistle blew again at 120 minutes, I nearly fell over in relief.

Penalty Shoot-out. There are no words to describe the terror of an event little prepared for. Poor Julie Colls, our goalie for less than a month, left half her skin on the pitch diving after the Eagles shots. The opposition at this stage were visibly more assured than our girls. It was quite overwhelming. Roxane Arpin, whose heart is close to her eyes, literally burst into tears.

The Eagles worked hard for that victory, with an extraordinarily strong defensive play that held us off to the bitter end. They’ve had a capricious season and deserved the win.

A massive thanks to our huge support squad! So many Dunbar players, friends and families came to watch, joining our core crew of HaBs. I understand the game was quite a nail-biter! Mini and Maggie were such pros…taking our team’s peculiarities in their stride and keeping us steady through a very difficult fight. Finally, thanks so much to Elliot for this season. He has made us better players and he would have been proud of our valiant effort.

xx Pep