NO coach likes to see his side lose a local derby, but after Jaden Ekert watched his Saints go down 3-2 to Bathurst City in Sunday’s women’s Premier League Hockey match there was plenty to like.
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Having missed out against Confederates in Orange the previous day after producing a below-par performance, the Saints provided a stern test for the undefeated Bathurst City.
The Saints conceded just one goal from the nine penalty corners faced and each team City did score, the response from the blue and whites was to lift.
“After yesterday’s poor performance, and it was poor, everyone put their hands up and said it was a game we probably shouldn’t have lost, they were out to make amends today,” Ekert said. “That didn’t happen, but that’s okay, we took five steps forwards today.
“Yesterday we came off and everyone was down because we weren’t playing so good, it was just a whole different picture from today.
“The first goal they [City] got was because we ball watched and the girls that did it put their hands up and said ‘I’m not doing that again’. They came off at half-time with a real positive mindset and it’s always uplifting to see that.
“We linked up really well and defensively when we needed to, we man-to-man marked and we worked hard for each other, whereas yesterday we were too busy watching the other person trying to do everything and you can’t do that.”
