Stingers Win a Close One

The Australian women’s water polo team has been involved in another close contest at the Ying Dong Natatorium, narrowly defeating The Netherlands 10-9 this afternoon.

West Australians Gemma Beadsworth and Emma Knox both again took the water, with Beadsworth in particular playing a key role in the victory.

Greg McFadden’s side needed to claim a solid victory in order to give themselves a good chance of topping their pool and earning a clear path directly to the semi-finals. They looked on track in the opening quarter, opening up a single goal lead 2-1.

The scoreline remained the same at half time after both sides scored two goals in the second term.

Australia looked like they were going to run out convincing victors when they earned a two goal advantage by the end of the third term but the Dutch had other ideas and outscored the green and gold side in the final term five goals to four.

Beadsworth continued her good tournament with another two goals from three shots attempted. Her second goal, which came in the final quarter as Australia pressed to widen the margin, was a classic with the 21-year old faking a pass before deftly lobbing the ball over the head of the Dutch goalkeeper.

Knox had limited game time but did manage to save a 5m penalty.

The Stingers will now have to wait for the result of the match between Hungary and Greece to see whether they progress directly to the semi-finals or take to the water in the quarter finals.