They triumphed in a shootout over a valiant Momona side after scores were tied 1-1 after regulation time.
Momona started strongly with captain Tessa Buschl keeping things neat and tidy in the middle of the park.
They pushed on at the goal of Pippa Croft but could not find an opening as the two sides remained locked at 0-0 heading into quarter time.
Not long into the second quarter, though, Croft’s goal was finally breached.
After a scrappy spell in the circle, the ball fell to Jessie Workman, who somehow managed to chip Croft with an aerial deflection at the near post. It was reward for Momona, who had picked up where they left off the previous weekend.
Never write off a champion, though, and City were not going to be beaten easily.
They created plenty of opportunities and eventually made one pay.
They won a penalty corner from a slick counter-attack, and after a rebound, Macka Harvey slipped it in at the near post to level the final on the stroke of halftime.
There were a few questions asked by Momona as to whether the ball may have in fact gone out, but the officials had a decent view of it, and were happy that it was a fair goal.
With the game back level, City’s confidence grew and grew, and Izelle Steyn was forced into making some cracking saves for Momona.
The women in red did well to not give away penalty corners, only conceding one right on three-quarter time. The execution was poor, though, with a mis-trap at the top bringing the quarter to an end.
As the game was all square, neither side was too interested in over-committing, leading to a largely uneventful quarter.
Danielle Stephenson made the odd clearance, but ultimately there was a lack of accuracy from the City front end, who continued to fire blanks.
The game was destined for a shootout, and having won the same way the previous week, against the same opposition, Momona appeared to be the favourites — but it was not to be.
After City scored their first shot, it was one-way traffic, as their key players stood up. Pippa Croft saved three in a row, before Tessa Jopp put Stephenson on the floor, slotting into an empty net to wrap the shootout up 3-0.
There were scenes of jubilation for City, who completed the threepeat by the barest of margins.
- By Nicholas Friedlander
