Cobras Women Back in the Finals Race — 2-0 Over Adelaide Fire in Bendigo
Two penalty corners, two goals, and the Melbourne Cobras women are right back in the finals race.
The Cobras beat Adelaide Fire 2-0 in Bendigo on Sunday, in the first half of Sunday’s Bendigo double-header, and it was exactly the response they needed after back-to-back defeats had stalled their season.
Captain Claire Colwill broke the deadlock from a penalty corner in the 19th minute. Delfina Thome doubled the lead from another penalty corner in the 44th, and from there the Cobras saw the game out without ever looking in real trouble. Chloe Scott and Nicola Brown were the umpires.
What it means
The Cobras women started this season like a house on fire — two wins from two, with Colwill scoring late in both. Then came two defeats in a row, and suddenly the finals places looked a long way off. This win steadies everything. They’re back in the hunt, and with the way the top four is shaping up, every point from here matters.
Adelaide, on the other hand, are still waiting for their first point of the season. Five games, five defeats, and a 7-0 loss to NSW Pride last time out. The Fire have good players in their squad — Georgina Dowd, Emma Kitto and Eliza Pannell have all found the net this season — but the goals have come in ones and twos, and they’ve now been shut out in Bendigo.
The numbers
Perth Thundersticks have already locked up a semi-final spot in the women’s competition, five wins from five with only three goals conceded all season. That’s the standard the rest are chasing. The Cobras sit in the pack behind them, and their run-in — Tassie Tigers away next Saturday, then the run home — will decide whether they make the top four.
What’s next
The Cobras travel to Hobart on Saturday 14 November to face the Tassie Tigers, while the Fire are back at home in Adelaide against the unbeaten Thundersticks the same day. Sunday’s result was the third women’s win of the round in Hockey One — after Perth’s 1-0 win over Brisbane and NSW Pride’s 2-0 win over Canberra Chill, both on Saturday.
