Canberra to meet Hills Heat in the semi finals

Posted on Sunday, Aug 28, 2011 by Admin

With one round in the 2011 NSW Handball League yet to be played, Canberra's semi-final opponents have been locked in.  Regardless of the outcome of next week's home game against Blaze, Canberra will end up third on the League ladder and will face Hills Heat (2nd) in a repeat of last year's final.  Sydney University are now confirmed premiers but their semi-final opponents are not yet known; Blaze and Harbourside will be fighting for the 4th spot on the ladder in their remaining matches. Table and Results...

On Saturday, Canberra posted an easy win over and understrength UTS, 31-17, in Sydney.   Canberra went into the match missing lead scorer Tomasz Lasek and key back Xavier Orsatti, but welcomed back Callum Mouncey, returning from a broken ankle.  French youngster, Timothy Schoen also made his debut game for Canberra.

Canberra blitzed the opening few minutes of the first half, scoring the first 8 goals.  However, Canberra began to drop their intensity, missing easy shots on goal. UTS capitalised on some mistakes by Canberra’s defence, gradually clawing back Canberra’s lead to 14-9 at half time.   The margin should have been greater, but for UTS' teenage Brazilian keeper who stopped repetaed Canberra attempts from close range.

The second half started slowly, with the UTS keeper continuing to keep Canberra out.  Eventually UTS managed to score first.  However, after keeper Matt Lacey bearing the brunt of a close range shot in the face for the second week in a row, Canberra finally emerged from its slumber to pile on 8 goals to one midway through the second half to push the margin back out to 11 and seal the match.  Canberra continued to expand its lead, despite the UTS keeper making more great saves.  However, some tired defence at the end of the game allowed UTS to close the gap marginally to finish 31-17.

Andrew Lawrence top scored for Canberra with 11 goals.

Next week, Canberra plays Hills Blaze in Canberra.

Canberra defeated UTS 31-17 (14-9)

For Canberra: Andrew Lawrence (11), Jeremy Schoen (6),  Callum Mouncey (4), Taip Ramadani (4), Luciano Baca (3), Dragan Radicoski (2), Timothy Schoen (1), Sasha Petrovski, Matt Lacey (GK).