KEMPSEY Hornets have secured the Football Mid North Coast Women’s premiership for the first time in the club’s proud history with a memorable match played at Port Macquarie’s Dixie Park.
The Macleay Hotel sponsored Hornets earned their place in the 2009 decider courtesy of a wonderful season. They finished in second place behind minor premiers Wauchope.
The three previous matches against Wauchope were tight encounters, with a 2-1 loss at Kemp St and a 1-1 draw at Wauchope during the fixtures of the regular season.
The two teams then met in the first round of the finals series, with Wauchope edging the Hornets out in a penalty shootout.
This gave Wauchope the saloon passage into the grand final, while forcing the Hornets into a sudden-death match against Port FC to earn a spot in the grand final.
The Hornets made light work of Port FC, taking the honours 3-0 to set up a thrilling rematch with Wauchope.
The final match of 2009 started at a frantic pace, with both sides looking to establish early dominance.
Once the nervous energy had worn off, the match settled into some passages of clean passing and long periods of possession, especially for the Hornets.
Ilana Kelly was a rock in the defensive line, along with Wendy Olden. Both ladies played smart defender’s football, setting up attacking raids with precise passes into midfield and long balls deep into Wauchope’s half.
Sandy Jackson and Bri Dufty were both uncompromising in defence, and were rarely troubled by Wauchope’s speedy wingers in the first half.
With the half-time score locked at 0-0, coach Brett White had little trouble reminding his squad they had control of this match and needed only to continue doing what they were doing to grind out a result.
The second half saw one of the Hornet’s youngest players, Tiana Adams, play one of the most exciting pieces of individual skill in the game.
Adams collected the ball on the halfway line before skipping through half a gap between two central midfielders.
She took off into space, beat two defenders with some nifty footwork before launching a blistering shot past the Wauchope keeper, only to rattle the crossbar.
This was shortly followed with a similar attacking raid from Wauchope, who also managed to hit the woodwork, before squandering a golden chance from less than six yards out, thanks to Alleira Morris’ intelligent positioning and lightning reflexes in goal.
White’s decision to save the youngest player on the park for the final 15 minutes played an important role, with Nadine Maxfield filling in at fullback until the final five minutes, when she was given instructions to move into the attacking line.
With five minutes left, the match seemed destined for extra-time, a fact not lost on the increasingly nervous Hornets fans.
Maxfield’s move to left forward paid immediate dividends, after she received a pass about 30m from goal. She skilfully glided past two defenders and calmly slotted the ball past an advancing ‘keeper into an empty net.
With just three minutes remaining, every Hornets fan was on edge. Wauchope could not come up with an answer though, and did not trouble the Hornet’s defence for the remainder of the match.
The win is great reward for the club, and the first time the Football Mid North Coast Women’s premiership has ever been won by a Macleay based team.
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