Marist, Carlton Redcliffs meet again in qualifying final

Defence will be key for Marist when they meet Carlton Redcliffs in Saturday’s qualifying final - a week after they last met.

Marist claimed the Rosebowl Cup after winning the round robin stage of the women’s Canterbury Premier League for the first time in the team’s history at the weekend. They lifted the cup with a 3-0 win over Carlton.

Marist head coach Joe Bartholomew was “really happy” with his team’s efforts in the round robin.

“Winning the Rosebowl for the first time is very exciting for the club. I guess now we just have one more job to do.”

It was also the third consecutive game in which Marist’s defence prevented any goals being scored.

Bartholomew said goalkeeper Olivia Dyer had a “blinder of a game”.

Marist have produced a series of impressive results since their one and only loss to Avon on July 1, beating Harewood 5-0 and thumping Hornby 9-0 before the win against Carlton.

Bartholomew said the result was a massive credit to the team’s defence.

“After the game, we looked at the goals against us on the table, which we topped by having the lowest (13),” he said.

Marist were able to capitalise on Carlton’s weaknesses better than they did when they drew 3-3 with Carlton in June, Bartholomew said.

However, Marist are preparing for Carlton to come back firing.

“Obviously we don’t expect that it’ll be the same again this week,” Bartholomew said.

“We’ve just been building from our big performance on Saturday really.

“We’re focused on being better in certain game situations at training to apply to the game.”

A win in the qualifying final would see Marist progress directly to the grand final in two weeks time, with the loser of the qualifying final playing the winner of Saturday’s elimination final.

Harewood and HSOB/Burnside will contest the elimination final on Saturday after finishing third and fourth respectively.

The teams last clashed on July 1, when Harewood’s Kate Atkinson scored the only goal in a narrow 1-0 win. Their first match-up ended in a 2-2 draw in May.

Harewood come off a 4-2 win over winless Southern who scored their first goals since June.

HSOB/Burnside managed to hold off a persistent Hornby side with a 5-3 win on Saturday.

In the men’s competition, top-of-the-table HSOB/Burnside and Carlton Redcliffs will vie for a place in the grand final.

HSOB/Burnside claimed the President’s Trophy after a hard-fought 4-2 win over Hornby last week. Carlton managed a 5-1 win over Marist due to a Jordan Whittleson hat-trick.

HSOB/Burnside go into the match with the psychological edge, having won both encounters with Carlton this year. They last met on July 8 when HSOB/Burnside managed a narrow 3-2 win.

Defending champions Marist will meet Harewood in the elimination final after finishing fourth in the round robin stages.

Marist will be hoping third time’s a charm against Harewood on Saturday after being pipped by them twice this season. Harewood go into the clash following a 5-2 win over Southern, while Marist suffered their second loss in three weeks to Carlton.

Meanwhile, Hornby and Avon will play off for fifth-place after promising round robin campaigns, while Southern meet University for seventh.

Avon’s women’s side have a bye this week, and Southern meet Hornby for the sixth-place playoff.