SL1 Vs Essendon [Rd 16]

Waverley 2 defeated Essendon 1.

The Panthers escaped with a well fought win on Sunday against a resurgent Essendon outfit. The Essendon home ground has been a fortress of late with a string of high profile scalps – the Panthers approached knowing full well that it would be a scrappy event at Essendon, fueled by the bad blood held from the round 7 clash as well as the torrential rain leading up to the game.

The Panthers launched themselves into the match and exposed the shaky Essendon defence with two early attempts at goal which flew painfully wide of either post. The ascendancy of the panthers continued with numerous shots being supplied by Wes Moore’s and Simon Preston’s piercing runs along the wings.

Disappointingly, against the flow of play, Essendon were able to produce a short corner and finished a variation into the bottom left corner to begin the scoring, 0-1 to Essendon. The pace intensified and so did the amount of unnecessary turnovers that marred the match.

The Panthers quickly regrouped and were justly rewarded after Simon Preston delivered a dangerous pass to Sparrow Swindells who found the back of the net with a neat deflection to level the scores at one a piece, 1-1.

Essendon refused to lay down and were awarded a penalty corner after a quick breakaway. The Waverley crowd were relieved when the low flick variation to the left deflected off the left post and was promptly cleared out of the circle.

The old brigade struck gold again when a dismal Essendon effort to clear the ball found a diving Wes Moore who slotted a blistering shot to the right sideboard of the goal -  Panthers went into the half time break with a 2-1 lead.

A 2-1 scoreline is renowned for being a dangerous position for a leading team and Waverley knew the perils if they did not score the next goal. However, a desperate Essendon claimed a goal from the top of the circle which was later disallowed for being hit outside – luckily for the Panthers.

Both teams had their chances to take the game by the scruff of the neck yet neither were able to produce any further scoreboard pressure. The end score remaining at 2-1 with Waverley leaving with the chocolates.

Waverley (3rd) will need to regain its composure in lead-up to the match against first placed Doncaster and will be a telling game in the race for a finals berth. The game starts at 2:15PM on Saturday at State Hockey Centre (S-2).

Goals: Swindells & Moore

The Skin Institute “Player of the Match”: Tommy Scott

Team: Scott, Glasscock, Brennan, Freeman, Thompson, Jarvis, Joseph, Preston, Wischusen, Mutimer, Young, Swindells and Moore.