HOCKEY
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IT has taken 16 rounds for Jess Watterson to be able to play for Souths in the women’s Premier League Hockey competition and while her game time on Saturday against Confederates was limited, she still showed why she is so valued by the two blues.
In her three 10-minute stints on the field she scored three goals and also played a role in another as Souths posted a commanding 6-0 win away from home.
Fresh from her national championship success with the NSW under 21s, Watterson added strike power to a Souths side which made the trip to Orange without attacking weapons Mandy George, Kate Dooley and Ashleigh Corby.
“Jess Watterson, what can I say? She was just brilliant,” Souths coach Damien Carter said.
“I played her in little patches of 10 minutes because her ankle is still not 100 per cent right. She and Sarah [Watterson] just combined together so well. It was just brilliant to have them.
“One of Jess’ goals, she played a ball long and it looked like it was going to go out, but Sarah chased, she never gave up. She got the ball and knocked it back to Jess, straight onto her stick, and bang it was in.
“Jess tried to set up Kate Stanford too. She beat two or three girls and sent it in to Kate, but Kate was just a little bit too close to their goalie.
Jess Watterson scored her first goal some 20 minutes into the match while she and her twin sister helped team-mate Ali Stanford finish the half with a double.
Twice Stanford deflected the ball past the Confederates goalkeeper, positioning herself perfectly on the end of powerful passes from her fellow two blues.
Her two goals in the space of 15 minutes gave her side a 3-0 lead into half-time and after the break they went on with the job.
Jess Watterson added two more goals to her tally, while Michelle Sommers blasted in a first time shot from a penalty corner play.
“Amelia Burke was great in that second half, she created so much down that right side. They were so defensive so she could just run it at them. She cracked one ball into Jess, who flicked it over the head of the ‘keeper for a goal,” Carter said.
It was not just the dominant attacking display which pleased Carter, but how his side performed in defence as well.
Confederates only got inside Souths’ 25 six times and while they earned a penalty corner, it was the result of a miss-trap from the two blues. They failed to get a shot away from the resulting short play.
“That game was just great, they didn’t have a shot the entire match, Kate Brown [goalkeeper] didn’t touch it, and for us to do that in Orange, that’s a great effort,” Carter said.
“We didn’t do a thing wrong, our transfer was great even if the ball did bounce a couple of times due to the turf.”
SOUTHS 6 (Jess Watterson 3, Ali Stanford 2, Michelle Sommers) defeated CONFEDERATES 0