A Nikita Cuffe CF goal got the ball rolling for the Australians but the Russians immediately responded with a Shepelina lob from the left wing. Goals were once again traded with a Bec Rippon counter attack matched by a Konukh lob this time on counter.

A Bronwen Knox earned and converted penalty was followed by a fantastic cross cage wood shot from Bec Rippon on the left wing saw Australia skip out to a two goal lead before two Pantyulina goals, 1 on extra from right wing and the other also from the right wing on 6 on 6.

A Taniele Gofers goal from a driving centre put Australia ahead once again before a huge blunder by the Australian defence after stopping a Russian extra gave them a gift goal to level at 5-5 at the end of the 1st quarter.

Another Konukh goal on extra opened the scoring in the 2nd and goals were traded for the quarter through a Melissa Rippon lob from out the top, Pantyulina extra from right wing and a Bronwen Knox goal on the half time buzzer in extra made it 7-7 after a time out move.

The 3rd quarter opened with a Shepelina extra from left wing was immediately followed with a Bec Rippon drive. The Russians then got the next three goals from Pantyulina through a penalty, counter and extra from the right wing. Australia during this period failed to capitalise on their opportunities especially in extra which allowed the Russians to lead 11-8.

The start of the 4th saw the Russians slow the game and a couple of missed counter attacks by Australia were punished with another Russian counter attack by Pantyulina. However Australia responded to the challenge and fought back through a Nikita Cuffe goal from a driving CF, a Melissa Rippon right driver outside shot and a Rebecca Rippon outside point goal got them back to within 1 goal with 2.30 remaining.

However a questionable Konukh penalty with 1.10 to go allowed the Russians to grab a 2 goal buffer and another Pantyulina extra goal on full time.

Coach McFadden said “Today we looked sharp and our attack was outstanding in the 1st half, but unfortunately our extra man attack and defence was the difference.

We scored some great goals and it was very pleasing how we fought back into the game to get into a position that we could have won the game.

The teams going to the Olympic qualifications are looking very sharp and are at a different phase in their preparation.

"So although the tour wasn’t a huge success it showed us the areas we need to improve on between now and Beijing. It also allowed us to give players coming back from injuries some valuable match practice while giving them an opportunity to press for selection in the Olympic squad," McFadden said.

Best players – Rebecca Rippon, Nikita Cuffe, Bronwen Knox & Melissa Rippon.

Goal scorers –
Russia 14 – E. Pantyulina 8, S. Konukh 3, N. Shepelina 3
defeated
Aust 11 – R. Rippon 4, N. Cuffe 2, B. Knox 2, M. Rippon 2, T. Gofers 1

Saves – Victoria Brown 7 saves  

AUS Extra      1 from 7    Penalties     1 from 1
RUS Extra      6 from 9    Penalties     2 from 2

Didn’t play E. Douglass, G. Beadsworth, A. Hetzel 

Other result Hungary defeated Greece

Final placings 1. Russia, 2. Hungary, 3. Australia, 4. Greece, 5. Netherlands

Stingers stun host nation in Thetis Cup
Athens, Greece (February 2).—

The Australian Women’s water polo team beat the host nation Greece tonight in front of a good crowd at the Thetis Cup in Athens 9 – 7.

A Bronwen Knox counter opened the scoring for Australia before a Liosi extra levelled the score. Two Mia Santoromito goals from a bounce shot from point and an extra from the 6 position allowed Australia to gain a two goal lead.

An extra goal from Iosifidou was immediately answered by a Amy Hetzel lob from the right wing before a Kozompoli deflection made it 4-3.

The 2nd quarter was our best of the tour so far which was built on a solid defensive performance. This was rewarded with 3 unanswered goals through a Sophie Smith extra from the right wing, another Bronwen Knox counter and a Bec Rippon rebound on extra gave us a 7-3 lead at half time.

Both teams intensity in defence lifted and only 1 goal was scored in the 3rd quarter by an Rounpesi outside shot brought the score to 7-4.

Australia started strongly in the last and a fantastic driving CF goal by Bronwen Knox was immediately followed by a Nikita Cuffe earned exclusion converted by Sophie Smith.

The Greeks then bounced back with 3 unanswered goals through a Liosi drive and penalty followed by a Gerolymou extra with 3.45 left.

Australia stooped the rot and held on for a 9-7 victory.

Coach McFadden said “It was great to see the team rebeound after their disappointing performance this morning. Apart from a 2 ½ minute sleep in the 4th quarter, tonight’s performance was very controlled and the way we expect to play consistently.

The most pleasing part was that our defence has finally started to look solid”.

Best players – Rebecca Rippon, Nikita Cuffe, Sophie Smith, Mia Santoromito Bronwen Knox & Melissa Rippon.

Goal scorers –
Aust 9 – B. Knox 3, S. Smith 2, M. Santoromito 2, R. Rippon 1, A. Hetzel 1
defeated
Greece 7 – K. Liosi 4, A. Gerolymou 1, S. Iosifidou 1, S. Kozompoli 1

Saves – Victoria Brown 6 saves  

AUS Extra      3 from 9    Penalties     1 from 1
RUS Extra      3 from 11    Penalties     1 from 1

Didn’t play S. Fraser, P. O’Neill, T. Gofers 

 

Stingers in big loss to Hungary
Athens, Greece (February 2).—
The Australian Women’s water polo team played arguably their worst game this morning against Hungary and payed the penalty with a severe 15 – 8 flogging in the Thetis Cup here in Athens.

The Hungarians completely outplayed the Australians from start to finish and are looking good for their upcoming Olympic qualification tournament.

The Hungarians gained an exclusion with their 1st attack and converted the extra man while Australia received an exclusion the next attack but failed to convert their opportunity.

Another extra man opportunity missed by the Australians was punished with Hungary’s 2nd extra man goal and followed by a counter attack for a 3-0 lead which they held until for the remainder of the quarter.

The 2nd quarter started with another blotched extra man opportunity from Australia before another counter attack and outside shot had them Hungarians well in control at 5-0.

Gemma Beadsworth finally put Australia on the board with an extra man goal which was responded with a 5m goal before Taniele Gofers scored a rebound goal in extra. Unfortunately with 11 seconds in the quarter the Hungarian converted another extra for a 7-2 lead at the halftime.

The 2nd half was played very similar with the Hungarians taking most of their opportunities while Australia blundered theirs.

Coach McFadden said “Consistency from one game to another and even one quarter to another is what is killing us. The things we done last night against the Dutch were completely forgotten and the Hungarians made us pay for all the individual defensive errors we made.

You can’t win games when the goalkeepers make 1 save between them and the field players provide only 2 blocks, while up the other end their defence blocked 15 shots and we were off target with another 8.

The Europeans are all looking sharp at present as in 2 weeks they have their last chance to qualify for the Olympics while hopefully we still have lots of improvement and are giving players opportunities to push for selection.

Goal scorers –
Hungary 15 – A. Valkai 4, A. Pelle 3, M. Stieber 2, K. Szremko 1, D. Kisteleki 1,
K. Zantleitner 1, F. Bravik 1, A. Primaz 1, A. Gyore 1
Defeated
Aust 8 – N. Cuffe 2, S. Fraser 2, B. Knox 2, G. Beadsworth 1, T. Gofers 1
 
Saves – Alicia McCormack 1 save

AUS Extra      4 from 10    Penalties     0 from 0
RUS Extra      7 from 11    Penalties     0 from 1

Didn’t play J. Santoromito, A. Hetzel, E. Douglass

Other result Russia 15 defeated Dutch 9

Stingers in first win of tour — over the Netherlands in Athens
Athens, Greece (Frebuary 1).—
The Australian Women’s water polo team finally registered their 1st win of the tour with a 13 – 10 win over the Netherlands tonight in the first game of the Thetis Cup here in Athens.

A positive start for the Australians with a Gemma Beadsworth lob started the ball rolling and it was pleasing to see Australia have the lead in the 1st quarter for once after some slow starts in the games in Italy.

However the Dutch hit back quickly with 2 counter attack goals before the Australians drew level with a Patrice O’Neill double wood on extra from the 1 position. But this was quickly negated with another Dutch goal on extra.

This stung the stingers into action and a great team counter attack goal to Taniele Gofers was follwed by a sweet Sophie Smith outside shot to take the Australians to a 4-3 lead at the end of the quarter.

An extra from Nikita Cuffe on the 2 post gave Australia a 2 goal lead and from then on where never headed as the score went from a 1 goal to a 2 goal lead 14 times before a Rebecca Rippon drive with 2.30 left opened it up to a 3 goal lead.

Coach McFadden said “Tonight was pleasing as we continued on improving from the Italian match. Our attack was good and the girls seemed a lot more confident and that showed with some fine goals. However our defence still made blunders that allowed the Dutch some easy goals and at times when we should have been defending strongly. Tomorrow we play Hungary and Greece and hopefully we can continue improving.”

Best players – Bronwen Knox, Melissa Rippon, Gemma Beadsworth, Patrice O’Neill & Victoria Brown

Goal scorers –
Aust 13 – N. Cuffe 2, G. Beadsworth 2, P. O’Neill 2, B. Knox 2, T. Gofers 2, S. Smith 1, M. Rippon 1, R. Rippon 1
defeated
Netherlands 10 – D. De Bruin 4, I. Van Belkum 2, R. Guichelauv 2, M. Van Der Ham 2, G. Van Der Berg 1, M. Cabout 1

Saves – Victoria Brown 10 saves  

AUS Extra      3 from 7    Penalties     0 from 0
RUS Extra      5 from 9    Penalties     1 from 1

Didn’t play M. Santoromito, K. Finucane, S. Fraser

Other results:
Russia 9 defeated Hungary 7
Greece 7 drew with Dutch 7
Russia 13 defeated Greece 7

Stingers stunned for third time in Rome
Rome (January 31).—
The Aussie Stingers completed a miserable City of Rome women’s water polo tournament with an 8-6 loss to Olympic champion Italy.

Three straight losses relegated the team to last of the four nations with Italy unbeaten in three matches.

The Stingers trailed 3-1 at the quarter and 4-3 at halftime but were a further goal behind at the final break with the last period squared.

Australia had the better of the extra-man statistics, defending nine from 11 but only converting three from 10 attempts.

The team moves to Athens, Greece to play the five-nation Thetis Cup from Friday.

Results:
Day 3: Italy 8 Australia 6 (M Rippon, S Fraser, B Knox, J Santoromito, N Cuffe, P O’Neill), Netherlands 11 Greece 9.
Final placings: Italy, Netherlands, Greece, Australia.

Aussie Stingers lose again in Rome
Rome, Italy (January 30).—
Australia’s European tour woes continued with an 11-7 loss to European Olympic Games qualifier Netherlands in the City of Rome women’s water polo tournament here today.

After a brutal savaging in the first quarter where the Dutch emerged 5-1 ahead, Australia could only level each of the next three periods 2-all.

The Aussie Stingers could not control Danielle De Bruijn, who blasted in five goals as the Aussie defence took time to settle.

Italy, whom Australia will play tomorrow, gained a second victory with a 7-5 win over Greece.

Results:
City of Rome women’s tournament, Rome:
Day 2: Netherlands 11 Australia 7 (N Cuffe 2, R Rippon, S Fraser, B Knox, S Smith, M Rippon), Italy 7 Greece 5.

Aussie Stingers bow to Greece in Rome
Rome, Italy (January 29).—
Australia missed two penalty attempts en route to an 11-10 defeat by Olympic silver medallist Greece in the City of Rome four-nation tournament here today.

World Cup champion Australia trailed 8-4 at halftime but could not gain the equaliser.

While the attack was strong with two successful extra-man conversions from just the two chances, it was the first-half defence that head coach Greg McFadden scratching his head.

“Our centre forwards were excellent, scoring five of the goals (Nikita Cuffe with three and Gemma Beadsworth with two) but our defence was just terrible in the first half.”

Ironically, it was Cuffe and Beadsworth who had their shots blocked by Olympic goalkeepr Maria Tsouri. 

Australia plays the Netherlands on day two, who succumbed to Italy 10-7 today.

Results:
City of Rome women’s tournament, Rome:
Day 1: Greece 11 Australia 10 (N Cuffe 3, G Beadsworth, R Rippon, M Rippon, E Douglass, S Fraser, B Knox), Italy 10 Netherlands 7.