A surge in the final 20-minutes led the Macleay Valley Rangers to a comfortable 3-0 victory over rivals Kempsey Saints Green in the Women’s Northern League’s preliminary final on Saturday.
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The contest went according to the script for the first three quarters.
The attacking prowess of the Rangers was on full display as they controlled the majority of possession and pressed forward while Saints Green’s defensive wall held off the repeated onslaughts.
The two sides went into the break scoreless and the deadlock remained until the breakthrough occurred with 19-minutes left.
A quick corner was taken by the Rangers and Emma Tamblyn received the ball on the edge of the box.
The attacking midfielder pulled the trigger on a goal bound shot which took a small deflection before it hit the back of the net.
The goal increased Rangers’ momentum as the Saints became deflated.
Rangers’ second goal was scrappy as the ball pinballed around in the box before Emma did enough to force the ball over the line to double her side’s lead.
The Rangers sealed their fate three minutes from full-time as player-coach Heidi Tamblyn pounced onto the ball off a corner and tapped it into the back of the net.
In the end, it was a dominant performance from Macleay Valley as they were rarely threatened in front of their own goal and Heidi believes her side deserved to advance to the decider.
“It was a close game and there were some nervous moments but overall I felt we were on top of them and forced them to defend,” Heidi said.
“They did a good job of defending us for so long but we gained a lot of momentum after our first goal and piled on the pressure.”
Heidi was pleased with her side’s performance, especially considering the physicality of the game.
“I was really happy with how we played, it wasn’t the best football at times but we did all the little things well,” Heidi said.
“We ground it out, it was a physical and scrappy game but we worked hard and it paid off in the end.
“Sometimes it isn’t about how pretty you play.”
Heidi is excited for her players who will get to experience playing in a decider.
“It’s always awesome to play in a grand final and I am really happy we have been able to make it,” she said.
The Rangers will face off with Port United in the grand final this Saturday.
Macleay Valley have won one and lost two against Port United this season, including a 3-1 loss in the opening week of the finals.
The match will kick off at 12.45pm this Saturday, but at the time of the print the venue wasn’t decided upon.
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