Lady Redbacks: Dancing in the rain

In the first game of the day at Walker Park, the Yass Lady Redbacks Division 3 side took on the resilient Palerang United Bull Ants hoping to increase their lead over them on the ladder to 4 points.

The miserable conditions didn't hold the Reds back and from the start they looked the goods over the Bull Ants with a number of sweeping plays from the team providing good chances for a number of the ladies early.

The deadlock was finally broken in the 30 minute mark when Victoria ‘bulldog’ Alley went on a blistering run down the left wing surging into the 18 yard box and unselfishly laying off to Shannon ‘lightfoot’ Wright, who made no mistake converting to bring the score to 1-nil. 

The Palerang United side were looking overwhelmed with the Reds midfield dominating the park. Along with some great running of the ball from Sarah Dowling and Dani Farthing, the ‘flash twins’, the lead probably should've doubled. Yet, the ladies were pegged back just before the halfway point when Palerang launched a counter-attack off one of the many corners the Reds had won, ending in a breakaway one-on-one goal, sending the girls into the break at 1-all.

The second half began much like the first and it wasn't long before Yass snatched the lead back. Alley was put through on goal by Katie Lourandos, and the division’s top goalscorer made no mistake beating the Palerang Keeper, to make it 2-1.  

Centre Backs, Bec Mclean and Amy Alley, were all over the Palerang offense giving them no chance to equalise this time. When Alley added a second goal to the lead the girls look like they may have had the win in the bag.

But as many know, it's not over until the final whistle blows. Whether through sheer luck, the Palerang ladies hit back with a fly ball from distance just clearing keeper, Taylah ‘righto’ Wright's outstretched hands. Making it 3-2, the Red's way. The comeback for Palerang was complete when a Yass defender slipped over to the right of the 18 yard box leaving the Palerang striker with a chance to equalise. As the cheers went up from the sideline for Taylah valiant effort to stop the first blast, which almost ripped her hands off in the process. The deflection flew back to the Palerang striker and the follow up shot was just out of reach drawing the game up 3 a piece.

With not much time left on the clock, the Reds never gave up and came agonizingly close to scrapping a winner through Maddie ‘leadfoot’ Douven with a close effort trailing just wide. However it wasn’t to be and the final whistle blew before a better chance could appear leaving the teams heading to sheds with a point each. 

"That was a great game to watch,” coach Farnell said. “They beat us 2-1 in the first game of the season, so I'm really proud because I knew the girls had the potential to beat that side, and if not for the weather and a bit of luck, I think we would have finished them off in the first half." 

With that draw the Lady Redbacks, currently sitting 4th on the table and with 2 games in hand, sits within striking distance of the top 2 when they take on Gungahlin United this weekend at Kaleen.

Division 4

It certainly was a challenging game for the Division 4 Lady Redbacks last Sunday in less than perfect conditions. The ladies hadn’t played for 2 weeks with a washout round being followed by a bye.  The team of 16 included 9 players who were backing up to play their second game of the day. Adding in a very boggy field and patches of rain, it was always going to be a tough game for the team. The teams started fairly evenly matched with Queanbeyan possibly having a better passing game. But the ladies stepped up to hold the ball in the opposition half. The forwards kept putting pressure on the Queanbeyan defence which lead to the Victoria Alley being taken down in the box and awarded a direct penalty kick. She had little trouble slotting it past the keeper to give Yass the first points of the game.  

Tamsin Foy was a standout player on the wing with Rose Murphy and Ruth Riach working tirelessly in the midfield. With Sofaia Stone pulling on the keeper's gloves for the first time, she certainly pulled out some surprising moves to deny the opposition any points.  Bec McLean and Amy Alley were their usual strong defensive line with Jacinta Murphy firing the ball forward to Shannon and Taylah Wright helping to give Yass another couple of shots at goal but it was Victoria that managed to find the back of the net giving Yass a 2-nil lead.  Unfortunately this was followed quickly by an answering goal from Queanbeyan.  With plenty of subs available Coach Farnell kept rotating players until the half time whistle, with the score standing at 2-1 Yass way.

With a change of goalie at half time, Katrina Farnsworth certainly proved her worth in the position picking up Player’s Player for the game. A couple of good offside calls went Yass’s way and Queanbeyan couldn’t penetrate the Yass defence with Ingrid Davis and Renee O’Loughlan stopping a number of attempts down the right sideline. Sonia Davis was instrumental in pushing the ball forward allowing Victoria to find the back of the net again. Despite the atrocious conditions Yass never looked back at this point, although a late mad scramble in the Yass goals certainly gave those on the sideline a moment of panic. Moving Jacinta into the forward line put a lot of pressure on the Queanbeyan keeper but it was Bek Gallagher in the final minutes of the match that managed to sneak one past the keeper to finish up the match 4-1.

Supporters are asked to come and cheer on the girls this Sunday at Kaleen from midday.