
The WA Diamonds played out a 1-1 draw with the NSW Arrows
in round six of the women’s AHL competition in Perth.
Both the Diamonds and Arrows were in good form coming off
wins against quality opposition in round five with WA defeating reigning
premiers SA Suns and NSW upsetting top placed QLD Scorchers.
In a high tempo opening half, both teams seemed well
rested after having a day off yesterday, resulting in some nice end to end
hockey.
WA was able to score first when striker Caitlin Pascov
was able to slot it past NSW Goalkeeper Toni Cronk at the 18 minute mark. Both
teams had a number of chances late in the half with Cronk and WA Keeper Kate
Hubble, forced into making some quality saves, meaning the teams headed into
the interval with WA leading 1‐0.
The evenness of the game continued after the break, with
the intense midfield battle of WA’s Kate Denning and Ashleigh Nelson (WAIS)
going toe to toe with NSW Arrow’s Casey Eastham and Holly Webster, a definite
highlight of the match. Both teams struggled to get off clean shots in the
second half as the defences of each team were playing well.
At the 52nd minute mark, NSW Arrows managed to break
through the Diamond defence with Emily Smith deflecting a strong pass past
Goalkeeper Kate Hubble, to equalise for the NSW team.
In a tense and exciting last 10 minutes, both teams tried
their best to find the winner but their efforts proved fruitless, as the
defences held firm, resulting in both teams having to share the points from an
extremely tight and amazing game of hockey.
- Hockey Australia
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