By ADEM SARICAOGLU
WERRIBEE was hoping to score a grand final berth in Vic League Two women’s hockey this season, but the Tigers fell short at the second-last hurdle.
After finishing the home-and-away season fourth on the table with 13 wins from 18 appearances, the Tigers went into their cutthroat elimination final against Casey as the underdog.
By game’s end, the Tigers had snuck away with a 3-2 win to set up a semi final date with Old Xaverians, but after Werribee conceded an own goal the floodgates opened, and the Tigers ended up going down 4-0.
“In the first 30 minutes we were on par,” Werribee coach Les McAlinden explained.
“We had shots at goal, they had shots at goal and everything was going smoothly.
“As soon as that one ball went into the net, it was just so shattering and we just didn’t recover from that.”
McAlinden, who remains undecided if he’ll stay on board as head coach in 2014, admits his side’s preseason goal was to make the grand final, but in reflection of the season just past, he knew it was going to be difficult to overcome the league’s two major frontrunners in Old Xaverians and Brunswick.
“I would’ve expected to get to the grand final, but clearly the two teams that had got to the grand final were the two better teams all year because they finished one and two,” McAlinden said.
“So expectations I’d say probably were met despite missing the grand final, but I was just disappointed to miss out.
“The girls went extremely well. You can’t complain about their efforts and their commitment but just unfortunately on the day the opposition were a bit better than we were, so it’s still a bit numbing.”
Laura Baker was the clear standout for Werribee throughout the year, with 21 goals to her name, while Brittany McIntyre picked up 11 of her own.
McAlinden also noted the efforts of youngsters Chloe Pickersgill (eight goals) and Victoria Pell (two) throughout the campaign.
