Swifts sink Ravens in final minute
Ravens A 1 Swifts A 2Ravens piled on the pressure from the start and attacked the Swifts with short and accurate passing between the midfield and forward players penetrating the D and shooting.Their efforts paid off when they were awarded a third penalty in the 10th minute. Georgia Harris pushed the ball out to Megan Troake who slipped it right to Ana Abend who fired a shot on target at the goal which Georgia Harris tipped into the net to make the score 1-0.Ravens continued in their attack but found the game all tied up after a ball was passed to Ryanne Bardgett who slipped the ball onto Alex Francis who ran down the right wing.Francis then slipped the ball back to Bardgett while obstructing the goalkeeper to help her place the ball into an empty net.In the last minute of play Alex Francis used her speed to edge past the Ravens defence forcing the Ravens keeper to make a fine save but the ball landed into the running path of a Ravens defender and was inadvertently kicked into the goal giving Swifts the win.Bluebirds B 2 Ravens B 0Both teams had near misses in the first half, Bluebirds hitting the post from a strike by Tracey MacPhee and Ravens having a goal disallowed from a rule violation committed prior to the shot being taken.There was an eventual break in the deadlock midway through the second half when MacPhee scored from a pass by centre forward Laura Bardgett who drew the defenders and keeper away from the goal to give the opening for MacPhee to slot home.The lead doubled when Deb Sagurs picked up a cross by Bardgett from the right hand side of the field and slammed the ball into the back of the net giving the Ravens’ goalkeeper, Jo Bielby, no hope of a save.Raven’s did have chances of their own but were thwarted by the excellent keeping skills of the Bluebirds stopper, Carla Pedro, and staunch defending by Anne-Marie DeGraft-Johnson and Morag Gilliland.Budgies A 3 Wildcats A 2Budgies were forced to play one player short against Wildcats.Jaselle Smith put Budgies on the scoreboard in the 17th minute with a strong sweep from the left hand post right past Wildcats’ keeper.Kristen Rego made many long runs from defence up to the forward line to make space for the play and Budgies gained a number of penalty corners against the Wildcats and were able to convert one into another goal with a quick ‘give and go’ between Keishae Robinson and Erica Furtado who scored.Wildcats gained a goal back in the 39th minute when the Budgies defence could not get a firm hand on the ball to clear it. In the middle of a Wildcats attacking short corner two Budgies players were yellow carded including their goalie which meant they had to play a portion of the game three players down.This did not stop the Budgies attacking and gaining short corners. But in the 62nd minute Erica Parsons restored the Budgies two goal lead. In the final minute Wildcats managed to slip another goal past the Budgies keeper.Swifts A 0 Wildcats A 3Swifts started strongly and gained the first penalty corner of the game after seven minutes but could not convert.Wildcats made the most of their possession and converted two penalty corners in the 12 and 17 minutes after some lacklustre defending by Swifts.The second half followed a similar pattern with Swifts unable to penetrate the Wildcats defence and unable to convert penalty corners. Wildcats scored from open play in the 59th minute to wrap up the scoring.Swifts A 2 Ravens A 1Swifts played this game with 10 players throughout and won with the most bizarre goal of the season.Ravens dominated possession and converted one of three penalty corners to take the lead.Swifts played defensively relying on the fast break from their two forwards Ryanne Bardgett and Alex Francis.In the 19th minute Bardgett picked up the ball on Swifts 25, passed to Francis who ran down the right into the circle and squeezed the ball past the keeper for Bardgett to tap in the easiest of goals. Ravens continued their all out attack but failed with many shots and two more penalty corners in the 31st and 33rd minutes.Ravens dominated all the second half possession and their forwards wasted numerous chances to score.Swifts nearly scored in the 59 minute when Lorina Harvey’s shot at goal hit the post.As Ravens pushed more players forward, often with 10 players in the Swifts half, they became more vulnerable to the counter attack. In the 69th minute Swifts struck the game winner in a most bizarre fashion.Francis broke away down the left, ran 60 yards into the circle where she was dispossessed by the Ravens defence who at the same time accidently kicked the ball past their own keeper into the net for the game winner to Swifts.Swifts defence of keeper Cheresa LeMaire, Emily Chadderton, Rhea Gibbons and Taj Branch made numerous last ditch clearances throughout this match.Canaries B 0 Cardinals B 2Cardinals opened the scoring in the 25th minute with a field goal by Zaynab Brown. Despite Canaries efforts to score they were unable to convert.Cardinals managed to score another field goal in the 45th minute thanks to Helen Marshall.Other resultsSwallows B 4 Longtail Canaries 0Canaries A 4 Swallows A 0Polecats 11 Upstarts 1Chameleons 7 Rebels 0