WEDNESDAY night’s round of A grade women’s touch matches was marred by injuries to two players involved in the same game.
The 6.30pm match on ground two pitted Southwest Fuel against Central Kitchens and it was developing into a tense and entertaining affair when South West young gun Jamie Caldwell went down with a knee injury.
Caldwell was carried off the ground where she received treatment, however as she was recovering Central Kitchens’ playmaker Sal Ormond stood on a teammate’s foot, injured her hip and was forced from the field as well.
At that point it was decided to abandon the match, with Southwest handed the win given the fact they were leading 3-1 at the time.
Charlee McPherson again proved a handful for the opposition defence to cross for two of the winner’s tries, while another regular contributor Tina Graham got the other.
Stacey Kemp, who gives 100 per each week regardless of the circumstances, was rewarded for another strong game for Kitchens, with Narelle Smart, Shannon Freer and Alana Simons offering plenty of support.
The remaining three matches went according to the pecking order, with ladder leaders Pacific National Steam Trains on a roll with an 8-1 win over Ex-Services Striking Hot, Central Rockets firing in a 6-1 result against Central Tumble On and Thompson’s Olympians proving too classy for Coota Hotel.
The seven-try margin in the first of these games indicates the Steam Trains has it easy, however to their credit the Strikers were still in the match around the halfway point, trailing by just one at 2-1.
Renae Glanville was first to cross for Steam Trains, with new recruit Erica deBelin joining her soon after, however Striking Hot off-season signing Jayde Boxsell slipped through the defence of her
former teammates to bridge the gap.
Lucy McGlynn, Annette Parkinson and Kristen Leak continued to ask questions of the Steam Trains’ defence, but it refused to yield, while at the same time the attacking flair of the premiership favourites began to yield dividends.
Glanville would upstage her colleagues to finish with a hat trick, Amelia Spencer added two to her tally, while Danni Visser and Kirstie Cook joined deBelin as single’s scorers.
Central Rockets’ 6-1 win over long time rivals Tumble On came with a tinge of sadness as it
represented the last game Erin Buttriss would play for her side.
Buttriss headed off overseas today, however saved one of her best games for last and signed off from the local comp with a double.
Jody Miller stole the honours off her speedy
teammate with a treble through a combination of individual work and the willingness to back up, while Ash Dobson and Amanda Ingham both opened their account for the season.
Shona Lawson actually gave Tumble On the lead with a clever piece of work early in proceedings and while she, Megan Gale, Jackie Lienesch and Kelly Spencer tried hard they could not hold back their well drilled opponents.
A break down the coast obviously worked
wonders for Kellyann Connell, who was the
headline act in Thompson’s hard-fought 4-2 win over the Coota Hotel.
Heading east after organizing another successful unisex carnival, Connell returned with a bang, more than doubling her try haul for the year with an impressive hat trick.
Emily Thompson complimented Connell’s trio with a single, while Annie Alexander and Casey Annetts also played major roles in the win.
Both Coota Hotel touchdowns came from players who have been coaxed into playing with siblings Courtney and Taylah Storrier finding the line.
Paige Louttit, Maddi Duncombe and Sarah Douglas also played well for the Coota Hotel side.
Draw for Wednesday
6pm Gr 1 Coota Hotel v Tumble On (Southwest), Gr 2 Ex-Services Striking Hot v Thompson’s Olympians (Kitchens)
6.30pm Gr 1 Southwest Fuel v Central Rockets (Coota Hotel) Gr 2 Central Kitchens v Pacific National Steam Trains (Striking Hot).
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