PLAYING a rare home fixture was of little benefit to the struggling Goulburn Strikers SL2 Girls as ANU ran out convincing 5-0 winners against the depleted Strikers outfit.
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With only nine players available the girls were again forced to rely on the SL1 women just to field a full team. Goulburn started brightly but could not sustain the tempo and as the half wore on it was ANU asking the serious questions.
Even so, Strikers were holding up well in defence and it took a speculative long range lob to break the deadlock after 23 minutes of play.
The second followed on the half hour mark, when keeper Babic was unable to hold a stinging drive from ANU, succeeding only in deflecting it into the net.
ANU continued to press but there was no further score before the break. Strikers put in an improved attacking effort in the second half but unfortunately made too many errors in defence allowing ANU to rack up another three goals on their way to a comfortable win.
Strikers next game is against ADFA next Sunday in Canberra and the girls, already low in confidence face the prospect of yet again not having a full side.
However, coach Jerry Evans is confident that if the girls can concentrate on playing as a team they can improve on recent performances.
“The girls have the individual ability, they just need to put it together as a unit and communicate more on the field,” Evans said.
“It is hard for them to turn up every week to find that they are short on numbers each time, but they they are a resilient group and I am sure things will improve.
“With only five games left we are using the remainder of the season as an opportunity to look at positional changes as we prepare for next season.”