Swifts dart into top spot
Top goalscorer Keishae Robinson netted a hat-trick to lead Swifts to a 6-2 win over Cardinals and the top spot in the B standings over the weekend.
Robinson put Swifts on the board early on Saturday with an open-play goal in the first nine minutes.
But Cardinals put away two of three short corner opportunities in the first half to briefly take control.
Wendy Cassidy found the touch on Cards’ second short corner chance in the 11th minute and Denise Downey successfully put away a second goal nine minutes later.
But Swifts found an equaliser before the break with Jasmine Patterson slotting home from a short corner routine. Cardinals managed to hold the scoreline for part of the second half, but Robinson soon found her way back to the D — banging in her second goal of the day on a short corner in the 45th minute.
Angela Dunstan slammed an open-play goal to extend Swifts’ lead before Robinson hit the mark off another short corner for her third.
Dunstan then scored in the dying minutes to seal the match 6-2.
Swifts are at the top of the B standings with 53 points but Ravens are in hot pursuit just one point behind.
Battling to a scoreless draw with Bluebirds on Sunday did little to help Ravens title drive, however. Bluebirds collected a 3-0 win over Swallows on Saturday. Kris Soares netted two goals in the winning effort and Ellen Reoch one.
In other B league play, Wildcats found a late goal to secure a 3-2 victory over Canaries.
Alecia Holder, Catalina Castano and Ann Green-Peroni hit the mark for Wildcats while Georgie Drover and Fiona Correia answered for Canaries.
Swallows and Cardinals drew their match 1-1.
Marguerite O’Connell scored for Swallows in open play while Wendy Cassidy successfully netted a second half short corner to earn Cards a share of the points.
Both A league matches over the weekend ended in draws.
Wildcats and Canaries stalled at 2-2 with Susanna Almeida and Brittni DeSilva scoring for Wildcats and Laurel Powell and Samantha DuPutron hitting the mark for Canaries.
League-leading Swallows also drew 1-1 against Ravens.
Emma Norman got Ravens’ lone goal and Joann Wilson replied for Swallows.
While the men’s league has been decided with Panthers wrapping up the title last week, there was plenty of action over the weekend as Chameleons enjoyed a second-half surge to take down Polecats 5-1 and Panthers held off an assault from Rebels to secure a 4-3 win.
Mark Finnigan led the day for Chameleons with three goals while Tim Goodyear stepped up for two.
Shannon Simmons put away Polecats’ lone goal from a short corner routine.
In the other men’s match, Rebels were still playing for the win in the dying minutes but failed to level the scoreline against Panthers.
Bert Rodney slotted two goals for Rebels off short corners while Neil Honess added the third.
Matt Spencer put away two goals in the winning effort for Panthers and Dave Horan and Neil Wilson contributed one each.
