Illawarra Stingrays take outright lead

Last Sunday the Illawarra Stingrays played Macarthur Rams for the right to say who are the favourites for the Arrive Alive FNSW Premier League crown in 2009. Fortunately the Illawarra Stingrays survived a great tussle with a 1-0 victory. This is the more pleasing because this is the first time the Illawarra Stingrays have defeated Macarthur on their home ground.

The game was a tough one as described by coach Brett Wallins:

Well what a game, it had it all, controversial decisions, great attack, and tough defence. We went into the game as underdogs looking to take the crown from the past champions. We started the game more dominantly than usual, holding possession well at the back and building our attack slowly waiting for our chances. We had a number of half chances and shots in the first half as the Rams struggled to hold onto the ball with our midfield led by Michelle Carney, ruthless in defence. Michelle Heyman pressured the Rams defence into an error and pounced to slot home a goal and give us a 1-0 lead at the break.

The second half started much the same as the first until a very contentious decision had Michelle Heyman receive her second yellow card and unbelievably we were down to ten players with over half an hour to play. This didn’t seem to phase the girls resolve as they continued to apply pressure to the Rams. Rams did work their way to a few half chances in this period and a great save by Sarah Gollop in goal kept us in the lead. Even though Rams had some chances we still managed to trouble their defence and both Michelle Carney and Ash Conner saw shots hit the post.

Through our utter commitment and discipline we were able to hold on for a great win, possibly the greatest win in the clubs history so far. Special mention to the centre backs Hailey Kerrigan and Caitlin Cooper who were simply outstanding and to the tradesman like display from Trudy Camilleri who was the glue that held us together. To all the supporters who stayed back we all thank you, you turned an away venue into our home on this day and without you all this would not have been possible.

IT WAS A GREAT DAY TO BE AN ILLAWARRA STINGRAY!

There are still 6 rounds to go with the Illawarra Stingrays leading by 8 points but Macarthur has 2 washed out games to play. At this stage of the competition the Illawarra Stingrays are the only team assured of a finals position.

For more stories on the Illawarra Stingrays go to: http://wollongong.sportslive.com.au/index.pl?page=3731. 
For more on NSW Women’s football go to: http://www.soccernsw.com.au/index.php?id=83

Cardinals whitewash Braves as others washed out

For the second consecutive week the 2009 Illawarra Baseball League premiership was reduced to just one venue being deemed playable and as a result Wests Cardinals and Kiama Braves were the only teams to take to the field.

The well-drained Cardinals’ home ground at Cringila Community Park home allowed the Red Birds to record a 10-0 win over the Braves, their second win by the ten run rule in as many weeks. In a game that hardly got to first base with excitement, Cardinals outhit Braves 7-3 and made two errors to Braves six.

Braves made two of their errors in the first inning allowing Cardinals to run in four runs, three of which were unearned.  After the scoring ceased for the next two innings Cardinals came back with two runs in each of the fourth and sixth innings and when an additional two crossed the plate in the seventh the game was called.

Cardinals’ starter Blake Handley pitched with control allowing four hits and no earned runs and reliever Jamie Simon was required for the final inning in which he allowed one hit. Braves starter Michael Talty deserved a better fate allowing four hits in five innings with only one earned run in six scored.

Centrefielder Chase Richardson and shortstop Jeff Trembearth shared the batting honours for Cardinals registering two hits each, the latter with three runs batted in.

 Table - Chiefs 96%, Cardinals 85%, Eagles 71%, Pirates 39%, Braves 12%, Mariners 4%.

In round 16 fixtures scheduled for Saturday, July 25 Wests Cardinals play Berkeley Eagles at Cringila Community Park, Dapto Chiefs play Northern Pirates at Hector Harvey Park, Dapto and Shoalhaven Mariners play Kiama Braves at No. 2 field, Fred finch Park, Berkeley. First grade games commence at 2.00pm. (Report - Frank Booth)

First Grade:

Wests Cardinals 10 Runs (7 hits, 2 errors) def. Kiama Braves 0 Runs (3 hits, 6 errors)
Dapto Chiefs v Berkeley Eagles – Washed out all grades
Northern Pirates v Shoalhaven Mariners – Washed out all grades

Second Grade: Braves 11 Cardinals 7
Third Grade: Cardinals 27 Braves 4
Minor League: Warriors (5) 12 Chiefs 4

For more Illawarra Baseball stories go to: http://wollongong.sportslive.com.au/index.pl?page=3394

Illawarra Hawks through to finals in State League basketball

As reported in last week’s column the Illawarra Hawks just missed out on the Division 1 play-offs in state league basketball. However, the Hawks third place in Pool D meant that they qualified for the Division 2 play-offs against other pool placegetters.

The Illawarra Hawks played the Port Macquarie Dolphins who qualified in third place in Pool A and proved too strong for the Northeners.  After leading by 40 to 27 at half time, the Hawks continued their dominance in the second half to win by 92 to 61. Top scorers for the Hawks were B Bonham (22), J Micalleff (20) and J Goode (15).

The Hawks now move directly to the finals weekend at Sutherland Basketball Stadium on 8th and 9th of August.

More on State League basketball can be found at:  http://www.nswbasketball.net.au/events/2009/SBL/Men/09DivMMain.htm

More Illawarra and Wollongong basketball stories can be found at: http://sportslive.com.au/index.pl?page=1370

Wollongong Premier Youth League games resume next weekend

Wollongong teams play their next round against West Sydney Berries at Lidcombe Oval with the 13s beginning at 9 am on Saturday July 25 after a holiday break.

Previous SportsLive reports on the Wollongong Premier Youth League teams can be found at: http://wollongong.sportslive.com.au/index.pl?page=3462
More results and the draw can be found at http://www.soccernsw.com.au/index.php?id=78

Still time to register for Sydney’s games for social to elite

As reported previously Sydney is hosting the 2009 World Masters Games involving over 28 sports between October 10 and 18. 

Registrations for all sports close on July 31. There are still plenty of opportunities to nominate. For more on the 2009 World Masters Games and all the sports go to: http://www.2009worldmasters.com/

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