Cairns Hockey: McLeod the hero in Brothers’ shootout triumph

Brothers keeper Ella McLeod was the hero as her side claimed Cairns Hockey’s U18A women’s premiership with a nailbiting 3-1 penalty-shootout win over Saints.

Brothers Fury win the Cairns Hockey Association Under 18A Women's grand final match against Saints. PICTURE: BRENDAN RADKE

Brothers keeper Ella McLeod was the hero as her side claimed Cairns Hockey’s U18A women’s premiership with a nailbiting 3-1 penalty-shootout win over Saints.

Brothers held the ascendancy halfway through the final after a Piper Bentley strike 20 minutes into the game.

CAIRNS HOCKEY GRAND FINAL REPLAYS: NIGHT 1 / NIGHT 2

Saints' Bree Pendrigh and Brothers goal keeper Ella McLeod fight it out in the penalty shootout in the Cairns Hockey Association Under 18A Women's match between Brothers and Saints. PICTURE: BRENDAN RADKE

Saints found the equaliser nine minutes after the break when Liv McArthur pounced on the ball and fired it into bottom left corner of the box to lock the scores at 1-1.

Saints dominated possession in the closing stages and applied plenty of pressure, but couldn’t find a way through the Brothers defence and the match-winner.

Saints' Talytha Macdonald juggles the ball forward in the penalty shootout, but is stopped by Brothers goal keeper Ella McLeod in a tense finish to the Cairns Hockey Association Under 18A Women's match between Brothers and Saints. PICTURE: BRENDAN RADKE

The match swung back and forth as the teams went into golden goal extra time, but they could still not be separated after 70 minutes of hockey.

In the first penalty shootout of her career, Brothers keeper McLeod piled the pressure on Saints’ strikers and made crucial saves to deny all four of their attempts.

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Brothers players rush in hug goal keeper Ella McLeod after she stopped a goal attempt by Saints' Talytha Macdonald to win the penalty shootout and the match for her team in the Cairns Hockey Association Under 18A Women's match between the Brothers Fury and the Cairns Saints. PICTURE: BRENDAN RADKE

Brothers players rush in hug goal keeper Ella McLeod after she stopped a goal attempt by Saints' Talytha Macdonald to win the penalty shootout and the match for her team in the Cairns Hockey Association Under 18A Women's match between the Brothers Fury and the Cairns Saints. PICTURE: BRENDAN RADKE

Brothers would claim a 3-1 victory, with Bentley and Lily Watts converting their penalty strokes.

“It was extremely stressful,” a relieved McLeod said following her dominant display in goal.

Brothers players rush in hug goal keeper Ella McLeod after she stopped a goal attempt by Saints' Talytha Macdonald to win the penalty shootout and the match for her team in the Cairns Hockey Association Under 18A Women's match between the Brothers Fury and the Cairns Saints. PICTURE: BRENDAN RADKE

“That was actually my first penalty shootout and it was a great experience and I’m really happy with how I performed.

“I really didn’t want to let the team down. We all put in our hardest to get the win.

“We made some great saves, we made some great scores and we all played to the best of our abilities.”

Brothers TAS's Emma Lyle and Souths’ Melanie Lum competed against each other in the Cairns Hockey Association U18B women’s grand final match. PICTURE: BRENDAN RADKE

■ Brothers TAS and Souths went down to the wire in the U18B women’s grand final.

The scores were locked at 0-0 until the last seconds, when Brothers TAS turned a penalty corner into a premiership, with Eadie Coghlan sending the winner into the goal after the siren.

Originally published as Cairns Hockey: McLeod the hero in Brothers’ shootout triumph