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02/25/2010 - Russell McKinnon |
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Cronulla´s Cabout helps steal game from KFC Breakers in Brisbane |
Mieke Cabout.
Foto: Wolfgang Philipps |
It´s amazing how an Olympic champion can inspire a team. In Australia Dutchwoman Mieke Cabout spearheaded her Sealevel Cronulla Sharks team to a nail-biting National Water Polo League 9-8 victory over the more fancied KFC Queensland Breakers at the Valley Pool last night.
To enter the Breakers´ lair and win was seen as a major upset as Cronulla came from 3-2 down at the quarter to go 7-5 ahead at halftime and maintain the margin at 97 at the final break. Beijing Olympic champion Cabout scored twice in the pressure-filled second quarter at the same time that goalkeeper Alyshia O´Neill hit form in what was a powerful four-minute burst.Cronulla coach Alicia McCormack said these two fired at the same time in a match where she rotated her entire team. “Some players really stood up and we played well as a team all the time.
“We were lucky in the first half when KFC hit the wood a lot and we missed a penalty attempt but still led by two at halftime. “We did fall off a little in the final quarter (with Sophie Smith scoring on extra at 1:48 left in the game) but we defended an extra-man play with 13 seconds remaining, which was excellent,” McCormack said.The Brisbane road trip is seen as the toughest in the NWPL and McCormack was pleased to start the four-match weekend with a victory.
The Breakers men romped home 21-4 in their encounter with Cronulla with Billy Miller and Sam Robertson slotting four goals each. In Melbourne, Victorian Tigers made it a double against Hunter Hurricanes, the men winning 16-10 and the women 11-8. Mitch Baird was strong for the Hurricanes men at centre forward and United States import Tyler Jemmett shovelled in six goals but it was not enough against the higher-ranked Tigers.
In Perth, the unbeaten Fremantle Mariners men had the better of Sydney University Lions 15-10 with youngster Aaron Younger sending in four goals. Longmont Fremantle Marlins women dusted off the Lions 13-4 thanks to five goals from national junior captain Zoe Arancini.
Results:
Men:
Brisbane: KFC Queensland Breakers 21 (B Miller, S Robertson 4, M McCann, T Jenkins 3, T Knox 2, D Marsden, J Votan, C Corbin, E Lui, M Fettell) Sealevel Cronulla Sharks 4 (F Reynolds 2, B Ient, G Panawek).
Melbourne: Victorian Tigers 16 (S Carpenter 4, S McGregor 3, R Moody, L Gavin, S Lewis 2, A Edwards, J Disken, M Corr) Hunter Hurricanes 11 (T Jemmett 6, M Baird, M Macdonell 2, T Hunt).
Perth: Fremantle Mariners 15 (A Younger 4, T Cleland, J Beadsworth 3, N Redbond 2, J Fannon, A Petrov, M Bourne) Sydney University Lions 10 (L Crus, J Davie 2, T Franklin, J Young, C Whittaker, S Nicholson, L Hollis, A Visch)
Women:
Brisbane: Sealevel Cronulla Sharks 9 (M Cabout 4, P O´Neill 2, N Zagame, L Susans, M Schmid) KFC Queensland Breakers 8 (B Knox, S Smith 2, S Horgan, E Bowden, S Farquhar, S Mills).
Melbourne: Victorian Tigers 11 (J Hanson 3, J Fancher, EJ Grahame, G Venosta 2, E Rossato, A Grahame) Hunter Hurricanes 8 (A Gonzalez 4, J Hoade 2, E Goodwin, K Gruber).
Perth: Longmont Fremantle Marlins 13 (Z Arancini 5, G Ralph 3, L Nielsen 2, C Ainsworth, S Wheelock, E Neesham) Sydney University Lions 4 (A Brightwell, G Wikman, F Hammond, C Bowry).
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Men
Men international
