Thistles displayed the ever green attitude of what a young side can produce and build upon after their last loss against the Sharks earlier in the season. With a keenness to keep possession and fitness to back it up, Thistles at home, showed a never say die attitude to grind out a solid 4 to 1 deficit against a depleted Sharks side. Indeed, injuries aside, Lennox couldn’t match the intensity and discipline of the younger Lismore outfit, who played solid football throughout attacking with force and defending well to deny the sea-siders any chance of victory. Thistles converted in quick succession in the 37th and 40th minutes, with Noni (the goal keeper) saving earlier potential goals and putting her body on the line with every shot that came her way to keep the scoreline respectable. A brilliant volley by mid fielder - Kenny in the 57th minute for the Sharks sparked up the match whilst Kate Hinton was having some friendly time with the opposition defender, however a devastating injury to Jodie Davis mid way through the first half (which saw her ferried to hospital in the ambulance and out for a lengthy period of time), left Lennox with no substitutions against a fitter outfit. This coupled with Leah on the wing battling a virus and defender Coggo twitching a hamstring made it difficult to keep behind the ball with the fast finishing Thistles forwards.  Kate Hinton worked hard, as did Chloe up front and Mel and Leah on the left and right wings, but were unable to penetrate the defence, on occassions Lennox looked dangerous but lacked the intensity to convert the opportunities into the net. Thistles again took control of the match slotting two quick goals in the 67th and 72nd minutes to take the game out of reach. Coach David Greiner said “it was a shame we could not provide some reserves to add fresh legs on the field and we will be looking forward to the return of Abi up front and Heidi in the backs after injuries in the weeks to come”. Dave also noted that the opposition’s goals came in quick fire braces of two passages of play which indicated 5 minute lapses in concentration from the Shark’s outfit. 

Points for the match were 3 to Kate Hinton by a clear margin, 2 to Selina Atkinson with a tie for the single point to Kenny & midfielder (never say die) Katie Hannah.
 
On another note….Dave Greiner has this to say…Thistles were younger much fitter & much more ready to play. They were dressed & warming up 30 minutes before play as we were still dawdling in, if we are to compete in premier division we should start acting like premier division.

Kate on fire for Lennox