On Tuesday, Ben Venue Public School met the other top four public primary schools at the Narellan Hockey Complex in Sydney for the NSW PSSA hockey finals.
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The day started really warm and the girls were always going to find it tough in the heat.
Their first game was at 9.30am against Redhead Public School, from the Newcastle area. Redhead had two state players in their team so the girls were nervous. They shouldn’t have been. Ben Venue took control from the start of the game. They were unlucky not to score numerous times. Everyone in the team gave 110 per cent. Redhead didn’t really have a chance, with defence strong and attack even stronger. The girls came away with a 3-nil win, earning them a spot in the grand final.
At 12.30 they took on Westlawn Public School, from the Grafton area. This was going to be an extremely tough game with the temperature already at 27 degrees.
The girls really struggled with fatigue at the start of this game, having given everything in their first game. The heat was really taking its toll. Westlawn were first to score with a cracking goal off the baseline. Ben Venue fought back leveling the scores at 1-all, with great team work and a touch in by Sophie Parsons. The game went from end-to-end with both teams having numerous opportunities. Westlawn got a sneaky run away that left the Ben Venue girls off guard and left keeper Ella Whitty to a two-on-one situation. The shot appeared as though it was going out, but a sneaky a little touch saw the ball sneak between Ella’s pads. This second goal to Redhead really fired them up and our girls were really feeling the heat by now. The second-half saw Westlawn determined to score again. Still the game went from end to end with many opportunities for both teams. Redhead looked like they had sealed the deal with seven minutes remaining on the clock at 3-1 up. This fired the Ben Venue girls up and they were determined that they hadn’t made the seven hour trip to come second.
Some great team work saw a short corner awarded to Ben Venue, where Ellesse Peltonen and Molly Deiderick teamed up and a couple of passes saw a slap by Deiderick into the corner of the box. The scores were at 3-2. The Ben Venue girls then saw a glimpse of the gold. They held possession for the majority of the next few minutes and a break away play with a great ball to Lucy Deiderick saw her drag the keeper and slot it into the back of the box with two minutes remaining. Scores were level 3-all.
The Ben Venue girls were not stopping there. They somehow managed to gain the ball back and put an onslaught onto the Redhead defence. With only 30 seconds on the clock the Ben Venue girls were awarded a short corner. Charlotte Portel had the shot and it deflected in, but unluckily it was slightly high and therefore not allowed as the first shot on goal was high.
With the final whistle blown, Ben Venue Public School and Redhead Public School were crowned joint winners.