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MATCH: Aztec Prem 1 v Mellons Bay 1 VENUE: Te Puru Rec Centre
DATE : 23rd July 2010 TIME: 8.00pm
WON BY: Aztec Prem 1 RESULT: 43 – 42
The start of the championship round of the RPL competition saw Aztec up against Mellons Bay for the second time within a week of their last encounter. This would be the final meeting between the two teams, therefore Mellons Bay's last opportunity to try and get a win against Aztec Prem. Mellons Bay's defence challenged Aztec's attacking line up and unsettled the shooting circle, forcing Aztec to do the hard yards within their shooting third. Aztec's defensive unit failed to contribute allowing far too much space for Mellons Bay attack, enabling their opposition feeders to grow in confidence and provide easy ball into their shooters.
1st quarter score: 10-11 Mellons Bay
Aztec continued the 2nd quarter as they had started the first, under pressure and lacking the ability to demonstrate composed thinking. Aztec defence appeared unwilling to challenge the opposition’s ball, preferring to take the easy options rather than implementing their usual hard-nosed approach. Mid court dynamo Leonie Matoe (C) did her best to deliver quality ball through the court and into her shooters, displaying a high level of discipline to hold possession and ensure accurate placement of the ball which assisted Tabitha Mau (GS) to score 7 out of 7 shots. Aztec were lacking their usual communication through court, preferring to react only when needed, without a full team effort Mellons Bay took the advantage and extended their lead.
2nd quarter score: 19-23 Mellons Bay
The 3rd quarter saw a better effort by Aztec with Coach Hauraki making changes in both the attack and defensive end. Shanna Coetzee (WD) brought some much needed urgency into defence, taking 3 vital intercepts, bringing Aztec back to within 1 point. Leonie Matoe continued with a strong attacking performance, putting phases together with her attacking players Ashleigh Timoko and Ruth Hei Hei. The 3rd quarter also saw Ashleigh Timoko (GA) kick into gear with some strong leads to the ball and widening her vision in to her shooting partner, picking up her work rate on attack and defence. Being proactive rather than reactive, Aztec finally displayed a more effective approach to the game, managing to make up the 4 point deficit and get within 1 goal at 3 quarter time.
3rd quarter score: 33-34 Mellons Bay
Winning the first 3 quarters Mellons Bay came out determined, taking some well timed intercepts from Aztec's attacking end, who at times failed to punch forward on to the ball. In true Aztec style the defence rallied together with Italia Tipelu taking 6 intercepts through the game and Eloise Blackwell (GK) pulling in some vital rebounds and at a crucial moment in the game, tipping the oppositions pass and chasing down the loose ball allowing Aztec attacks the opportunity to finish off. With Leonie Matoe remaining steady and once again linking well with her team mates and Ashleigh Timoko continuing to perfect her feed to Ma’u, Aztec took the lead from Mellons Bay in the final seconds winning the last quarter 10-8, and the game.
Coach Hauraki commented - "I expected nothing less than a hard fought game from Mellons Bay, this would be their last opportunity to take us on, and therefore they put everything on the line. It's obvious that teams are utilizing video analysis in an attempt to get an edge on their opposition now; therefore it's essential that we do not become predictable. Based on our performance tonight I think we have become obvious in our attacking play, there was way too much ball taken off us. We've certainly proved that we can handle the pressure situations; Leonie stood out for me with only 4 bad passes throughout the whole game, which reflects her resilience to high pressure situations and it was great to see Ashleigh back her up by taking charge of the circle. As a team we have yet to convince ourselves that we can put out a solid 4 quarter performance. My challenge for the coming weeks will be to change up our attacking patterns and get my defence end back to playing “hard on to the ball” no matter what the call".
MVP Award: Leonie Matoe |
