Watching from the South United dugout on Sunday, stand-in coach Denby Budden could have been excused for thinking he was in a time warp as they squandered a 2-nil advantage.
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After leading Flames 2-nil the previous week only to have to settle for a 3-all draw, it looked like Souths might have blown it again when Tudor Wests fought back to draw level at 2-all.
But Meg Lye put them back in front with “a really nice high flick” off a pass from Allison Billinghurst with around 10 minutes to go, and this time they held on to claim the points 3-2.
Billinghurst had earlier given them a 1-nil lead before Kaylene Osborne doubled their advantage.
All three goals came off corners but they had a lot more that they “should have and could have scored off”, Budden lamenting that they were a bit wasteful on their penalty corners.
They did create some good chances from the field too but made some poor decisions.
Budden said laziness and a lack of communication cost them the two goals. They also struggled to penetrate Tudors through the middle with Brooklyn Cooper and Dakotah Barnett-Suey very strong there.
For Souths, Budden said Lye played “very, very well”.
Vanessa Harwood was also “really good”.
Tudors were understandably disappointed not to come away with any points, a lapse of concentration in the last 10 minutes, and inability to convert their chances in the first half, hurting them.
“Our midfield worked really well and delivered good ball into our strikers,” Tudors coach Helen Willis said.
“We really got a lot of ball in behind Souths but we just couldn’t capitalise on it.”
Sam Constable and Tessa Mitchell scored Tudors two goals, both coming in the second half.
“We probably fought harder for the ball in the second half, we weren’t quite making those 50-50 balls in the first half or contesting that receive,” Wills said.
They also utilised their width better in attack.
Jess Clarke was their player of the match and fought really hard, Willis said. Sarah Willis was also able to get a of ball into the strikers.
Willis also singled out the efforts of youngster Lexie Murphy up front.
She’s only 12 or 13.
“She did really well as a striker, she’s improving out of sight,” Willis said.
