The Aussie Stingers, Australia’s women’s water polo team, has made it three victories in five days with a 15-6 demolition of Great Britain at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.
WAIS-AIS athletes Gemma Beadsworth, Glencora Ralph and Zoe Arancini all represented Australia in the match.
The Stingers led 5-3 after the first quarter but it was in the middle half of the game that they showed the dominance they hope will take them to a gold medal at the London Olympic Games later this year.
During that period the Australians piled on eight goals to one including three to tenacious driver Jane Moran. The Queenslander said that second and third quarter onslaught was the key to the victory.
“We had a very solid middle of the game,” Moran said.
“We drew two-all in the last quarter and allowed two pretty weak goals in the first quarter but when we get our heads together like we did in the middle two quarters we are very solid.
“My goals came with help from some really good team play. Our score lines in these three games have been pretty consistent and (now) we really want to focus on getting our defence as strong as possible.”
Holly Lincoln-Smith, whose sister Emma this week contested the world skeleton championships in Lake Placid, was also strong, netting two goals. Lincoln-Smith is aiming to follow her sister onto an Olympic team – a feat that would make them the first Australian siblings to compete at a winter and summer Olympic Games.
The fourth test of the series is on Monday night, followed by the final game on Tuesday.
Earlier:
The Australian women’s water polo team, the Aussie Stingers, have made it two wins from as many games in their five match test series against Great Britain, defeating the ‘old enemy’ 14-4 in game two at the AIS in Canberra last Thursday.
The girls bounced back from a slightly rusty opening on Tuesday, to produce a much improved extra-man display in what was an encouraging sign for the future.
The Stingers got off to a quick start jumping out to a 4-1 lead in the opening term with two-time Olympian Melissa Rippon netting an early double, before Bronwen Knox and youngster Hannah Buckling helped consolidate that advantage with two of their own.
Great Britain was able to hold Australia to a 2-0 scoreline in the third quarter before the Stingers accelerated in the last period to seal the 10 goal win.
Young gun Buckling ended up with three for the match, as did Melissa Rippon, while captain Kate Gynther, Brownwen Knox, Gemma Beadsworth (WAIS-AIS) and Zoe Arancini (WAIS-AIS) all piped in with two.
For Buckling, her performance came at a good time with the 20-year-old impressing in her opening game of the week, after being the source of many extra-man opportunities throughout the contest.
“I though the game was good tonight,” a pleased Buckling said.
“We were a lot more patient with the ball and we made sure we took that extra pass which made it easier to find the back of the net.
“Personally, I just loved being able to get in the water and to score three goals was just a bonus.
“Overall, though, having been on the sideline in game one I did notice that we were more calm and we definitely played like more of a team.”
–Australian Water Polo
