ABC 3 : 2 ECB
It was great to have our whole squad available for Saturday's superb 'Clash of Titans' Grand Final, and an end to a somewhat crazy season!
Celebrating our win! 2020 P3 Women's Champions! Proud co-coaches Keri Dempster and Colin Gibbs, Emma Hutchinson and Madi Wright showing off the Silverware, our little 'Bee' supporter and the squad enjoying a 'lap of honour'!
Strategy, commitment and the most important - execution - were the order of the day! And we couldn't have got off to a better start! A few minutes in and Kate Lyon converted from the perfect left inside position in open play. Madi Wright soon followed with pinpoint accuracy, using her signature reverse shot to the top right of the goal. A disallowed goal for us at the end of Q2 (hmmmm!!!) so we went in to the half-time break 2-0 up.
Not ready to concede, ECB came storming back (as expected!) drawing level in the 3rd and early 4th quarters. So it was 2-2 with 10 mins to go!
Then MAGIC!!!
In a nail biting, 'never-say-die' end-to-end final stage of the match, both teams fought hard to find the winning goal! But it was our Kate Lyon with 6 mins left on the clock who finished from a scramble in the circle to take ABC back in front 3:2. Tight defence and 300%++ effort in the early summer heat from all ABC players kept ECB at bay until the final whistle... and then lots of joy and excitement from the ABC players, coaches and supporters alike!
As a squad we need to celebrate this result. Not only because we put in some great performances during the season, and won the title with some awesome goals, but during this final, from the goalkeeper and backs through the mids and strikers (luckily we also have the best keeper!) we simply had it all - bravery, timing, style, mongrel, respect, angry, top skills... There were some mistakes too, but we had the commitment, energy and ownership needed to fix them. And best of all, the players never gave up, fighting right to the end... Something we have been doing in each game this season, playing hard for the full 68 mins!
And the result of all the hard work and dedication is an ABC P3W Grand Final title for the first time since 2004!
The support from friends and the ABC family, not just on the day but all season, was epic... A huge thank you to all!
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