An early 9.00am start at Buderim greeted the dynamic Maleny u/13 girls team. Top of the table Buderim Orange was the challenge and after a week off for the holidays the Maleny girls were eager to impress. Regular goal scorer and captain Ruby was a late withdrawal, due to a leg injury obtained at the Friday night Disco. This did not deter the Maleny team and Mary-Anne rose to the occassion in the absence of her forward partner and scored the first goal of the game, to give Maleny a handy lead. Buderim struck back shortly to equalise before another great goal from Mary-Anne gave Maleny back the lead. Buderim had a couple of favourable close line calls and managed to score another 2 goals before halftime to have a 3-2 advantage at the break.
Chloe was having a great game and was attacking from all over the field, shortly after halftime Chloe had a long shot from the midfield and connected superbly to equalise for Maleny at 3 all. Strong defence from Summer and Maggie saved many Buderim attacks. A fast break and a good finish from Buderim gave them back the lead. Another break to Buderim and an open shot at goal looked like the end for Maleny, unfortunately for the Buderim player she miskicked the ball and it sailed over the top of the goals.
The Maleny girls took advantage of their lucky break and moved the ball forward were Inca provided a great cross pass to Mary-Anne who put in her third goal of the game and equalised the scores at 4 all, with only minutes remaining. Niether team could score in the final minutes and a thrilling game ended in a 4 - 4 draw. Mary-Anne’s fantastic hat-trick earned her the player of the week award and the Maleny girls should be proud of their efforts against such a strong team.
