Well the banished strapper is back again to give you a full run down of events that occurred with the Redbacks over the long weekend.
Because other teams seem fit to defer games against us because it doesn't fit into their routine we are left with catch up games that we have to organise and get played.
So this weekend we had it planned to play the Bathurst Collegians on Sunday and then play a catch up game against Young on Monday. That would have cleaned the slate and put us back on track with the draw.
Surprise surprise the Collegians coach rang and deferred Sunday's game because his players would rather go away for the long weekend than play soccer.
You might think "Why do you put up with it?"
Well because you don't want to give them the chance to make you forfeit a game if the boot is on the other foot.
Anyway, all was not lost, we still had a game on Monday.
In keeping with the theme of keeping the side together as much as possible we decided to organise a bus for the trip.
Thanks to Barry Burn who supplied the bus and his time.
We all arrived safely and at the same time in good spirits.
Our opposition on the day was Young Lionesses who this year have improved out of sight from last year and are currently ahead of us on the points table.
So this was a must win game for us if we are to make the top four this year.
Luckily for us our main striker Taryn was available to play which lifted the moral of the other players.
As reported a couple of weeks ago I told you Renae suffered a serious ankle injury and will be out indefinitely.
Well it was great to see Renae come to the game to give her years of experience in the game and help the L Plate coach steer the side around.
The game started evenly with the Redbacks trying to get a feel on the game, not knowing what to expect from the Lionesses.
Just before the game started I had a talk to Megan our goalkeeper and told her that the referees had some strange interpretations of the rules especially when it come to goalkeepers.
So I told that when she picks the ball up to take her time, look around, and pick out one of our players to kick to.
I also said you have six seconds to get rid of the ball but no one seems to enforce it, so take your time.
The other thing I told her was not to step out of the box when kicking the ball or we would be penalized.
Megan being a good listener did exactly what she was told. It was due to these tactics that we had the first goal scored against us.
Megan was penalized for taking too long to clear the ball (the quickest six seconds anyone has ever seen).
From the penalty a good piece of work from the Lionesses saw them score.
Lionesses one, Redbacks nil.
Feeling a bit hard done by, the Redbacks got aggressive and took control of the game with Taryn scoring our first and second goal with some great ball skills after being set up by some great team play.
The girls were still a bit hot under the collar and were determined to make the Lionesses pay.
After some more good lead up team work Kylie found herself some space and neatly placed the ball in the corner of the net to make the score Redbacks three, Lionesses one.
That was the half time score and all looked good.
A happy coach told his players not to let up and keep the pressure on.
The first half of the second half was s dour struggle with no score added, until we were hit with another ridiculous penalty when Megan was penalized by the ref for holding the ball out in front of the box when she kicked it.
He must have exceptional eyesight seeing that he was close to half way when he called it.
Anyway from the penalty the Lionesses scored making the score Redbacks three, Lionesses two.
From there the Lionesses gave us both barrels and it was only last ditch defence and some magic work from goalkeeper Megan that held them out.
The depleted Redbacks played some great soccer and deserved the win.
After the coach's dummy spit last week (which he was reminded about a number of times) he was in a much better mood and lives to coach another week.
This week on the bus trip home we announced that we would be having a player's player award each week and this went to Kim Scott who was thrown into the deep end to fill in for injured Renae.
Kim is normally a defensive back but stepped up today and did a great job.
Best and fairest points went to: three points to Kim Scott, one point to Taryn Ashton, one point to Kylie Rush and one point to Megan Power.
Next week we are home to Macquarie United and are scheduled to play at 1.00pm. This could change due to refereeing commitments.
Just ask any of the players after Wednesday night to get the correct start time.
Thanks for reading our column.
P Plate Coach
The Banished Strapper.
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