GREAT SEASON: Griffith RE capped off their year with the women’s title, just pipping Vic Hotel. Picture: Bec Goullet.
GRIFFITH RE has earned back-to-back women’s hockey titles after outlasting Victoria Hotel in another classic encounter at West End Oval on Saturday.
With the sides locked at one-all at the regulation time, a shoot-out still could not split the sides, with a crucial goal to player of the match Emma Teusner sealing the epic win for her side.
Griffith RE coach Lyn Mason paid tribute to her side’s determination to see off a very worthy foe in Victoria Hotel.
“We really had to capitalise on any little chances we had and we managed to do that for most of the game,” Mason said.
“I’ll be honest, I feel like we deserved the win because we’ve been the most consistent this year, and being minor premiers and losing only one game all year, we would have been filthy if we had have lost the grand final in similar circumstances.
“But at the same time, it’s not always about winning, we’ve got so many juniors coming through, which is great to know we can put them into a grand final, knowing we don’t have to rely just on the experienced players.”
Griffith RE were first on the board before the dangerous Fiona Shield put Vic Hotel back on even terms just before half-time.
Shields again looked likely to score early after the break, and a potential game changing strike just sailed wide of the post.
“The first 10 minutes in the second half they (Vic Hotel) put us under enormous pressure, they really took the game up to us,” Mason said.
“But we managed to hang on and not let a goal in and after that they seemed to lose momentum a bit, and then we managed to go on the attack against them, but we were unable to capitalise.
“So it was a see-sawing game until we managed to go to extra time.”
Griffith RE’s Susan Cox was heavily marked during the game, but it was Daniel Bugno and 15-year-old Teusner who really stood up for the eventual champions.
However, Teusner’s coolness under pressure was tested in the golden shootout in having to score the winning goal twice, after being recalled after her first effort because the referee had not blown the whistle, thus allowing her to have a shot.