Tayla King made the most of the opportunity to play a more attacking role for Waratahs on Sunday, with her second half strike proving the difference as they got the points 1-nil against Flames.
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Not afraid to change things up, Waratahs coach Josh Worpel moved King, who is a central component of their defence, to inside forward.
“She’s wasted a bit at the back,” he said.
“(And) Now we’ve got Hayley (Lennon), who can play at the back, we can afford to push her up.”
Lennon had the tough job on Sunday of shutting down Flames strike weapon Kim Resch and did a pretty good job, Worpel said.
He was much happier with his sides second half performance in a game that was back and forth.
“The first half our passing wasn’t good enough. We were letting them get into the contest too easily,” he said.
“The second half we fixed that up a lot and were able to shut them down pretty quickly.”
“The first half too we were throwing the ball away too much. The second half we fixed that up and controlled the ball better.”
King struck the definitive goal two minutes into the second half after sneaking away from the defence and finding a bit of space.
“It was good to keep them scoreless,” Worpel said.
“They came at us pretty hard towards the end.”
Flames didn’t do a lot wrong. It really came down to their finishing.
“I was not unhappy with the way we played,” coach Barrie Pritchard said.
“In previous weeks we have converted our opportunities.
“That was the difference. We just missed a few chances.”
Waratahs probably had a bit more of the play and the better of the chances in the first half, but there was one chance that stuck out in Pritchard’s mind for his side.
It came late in the half, Kate Ferguson making a terrific run through the middle and putting a great cross across to Resch.
They then had “some good chances” after King’s goal, which came from a Flames turnover.
Pritchard’s only other complaint was that there were a few instances where they left the Waratahs strikers unmarked. One they got punished for but the other times they were fortunate to be able to scramble and cover up.
He said Ferguson had a “super game”.
Recently returned from a calf injury, Helena Williamson also produced one of the best games he has seen her play for a while.
