GIPPSLAND LEAGUE SOCCER • Drouin Dragons’ Senior Women side are enjoying the end of their season with wins and changes to player positions.
First published in the 30 August 2018 edition of the Baw Baw Citizen.
The team beat Prom Coast 2-1 at Bellbird Park on Sunday, a victory made more impressive knowing some players were getting used to new roles on the field.
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“It was interesting because we’re playing Prom Coast, who were bottom of the ladder, so we mixed up the team a little bit,” coach Kate Boyer told the Baw Baw Citizen.
“We have two games to go, we’re not in finals, we’re actually making sure the girls are enjoying the games more than looking to win win win.
“We put our defence up forward, we did let our goalkeeper come out and have a run as well, so I think the girls walked away thinking ‘yeah, we actually played really hard and Prom Coast made it hard.’
“It gives the defence a chance to actually go and kick a goal, because in soccer if you kick a goal it’s kind of the best thing you could do.
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“The two goals were scored by our mid-fielder, she usually plays there, but it was our two main defenders who were up forward for most of the day. They were doing a lot of assist and there were quite a few shots on.
“But I actually congratulated Prom Coast’s keeper; superb hands today.
The team put up a strong game until the end, frequently getting the ball close to goal in the second half.
“It was interesting to see. I think if Prom Coast had had 11 or had subs it would have been a very different game,” Kate said.
“I think we did have a lot of play in the first half. Prom Coast took us by surprise early on in the first half and they kept it down toward our goal, but that was with our inexperienced defence who were still working out ‘what do we do, where are our positions, who am I kicking it to?’
“They settled a little bit more in that second half and were passing the ball around and actually looking like they were aiming to get the ball in the net.”
While not making it to finals, the Dragons’ game this weekend is not insignificant.
“I think we will hold a little bit of power there,” Kate said.
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“We won’t make finals, but if we beat Korumburra they might not either, and if Korumburra beat us Warragul won’t.
“But of course we’re going into that game for a win, the past two seasons we’ve finished off with an away game at Korumburra, so we want to keep up the tradition of beating them at home in the last round. We’ll see how that goes.”
Sunday’s score was the second win in a row for the Dragons, who beat Mirboo North United in Round 16 2-0.
“They had beaten us in a previous time we’d played them, so that was great to see,” Kate said.
