WPC: Camberwell 2 def. Footscray 1
You only need to beat them once!
On Saturday we saw the culmination of all the hard work that has been put in since the middle of February. But this journey started in 2021 when the sudden shutdown of the season saw us yield a promotion to pennant C but no accreditation for holding the top spot for the entire shortened season. Throughout a 3 year span this team has lost a combined 8 games, yet achieving the ultimate goal had somehow eluded us.
Our opponents, Footscray, been the only team to really give us a challenge this year after earning a promotion from pennant D in 2022 and we knew we’d have to play 4 quarters of our best hockey to beat them. Unfortunately for them, we did. In the qualifying final 2 weeks prior they outran and outflanked us on a hot day at Matlock forcing us to reevaluate our strategy for them this time around. Instead of running and gunning with them we expertly controlled the tempo and forced them to play our game. Amy and Megan set the tone early combing long balls to our forwards, switching it around the back and taking it through the middle to constantly keep Footscray’s press guessing. Our halves, Kate D, Brodie, Cuttsy and Lucy expertly shut down the speedy forwards and produced dangerous counterattacks. Our inner line consisting of Addie, Sinead and Loz, broke apart the Footscray press with an ongoing barrage of leads, give and gos and right marking that wore our opposition down. Milly, Woodsy, Keeley and Hannah as a forward group had a game that forced Footscray’s defensive unit to question whether or not hockey in September was worth it. Throwing dangerous overlapping play with each other and the midfield and setting a precedent for a press that yielded multiple successful short corners and many pressured hits straight to Camberwell colours.
Whilst on the topic of short corners… Amy came forward and off a sharp strike from the top out our first goal into the back of the net. But that wasn’t enough for her as she collected another one off the pads in the third quarter and left the backboard with a reminder that defenders can score more than own goals. On the other end of the field our defensive short corner squadron stood up against Footscray again, successfully defending multiple in a row. Most noteworthy of which came in the dying minutes of the match as Megan foiled the first and second attempts whilst also clearing the ball.
It would also be prudent to acknowledge the sacrifice that Louis Janssen made by assisting as an extra rotating defender not only on an incredibly hot day but before they played in their own grand final the very next day! Footscray, being the closest thing to our bogey team all year certainly represented a challenge but never one that felt insurmountable. We knew our capabilities were more than enough to take them down and we accessed them at exactly the right time. A comment from a fan “the passing was so strong and your team literally never seemed to make mistakes” which highlights the team oriented nature that was have played all year.
Amazing day, amazing year. Let’s do it all again next season.
Pennant C(hampions)