v St Kilda Sharks @ A.H Capp Reserve
Darebin 1.2, 3.3, 9.4, 9.4 (58)
Berwick 2.0, 2.0, 2.1, 5.3 (33)
Goals
Darebin: R. Hickmott 5, V. Pettit , T. Alexandrow , S. Hogan , S. Portway
St Kilda: A. Bell 3, S. Worthington , R. Ticli
Best
Darebin: K. Scodellaro, A. Porter, R. Hickmott, S. Portway, V. Pettit, T. Mifka
St Kilda: C. Brooks, J. Male, A. Van Der Mark, N. Formosa, T. Ritchie, T. Winchester
It’s remarkable that when faced with a number of challenged, our team always manages to find an answer out of something.
We were against asked a few questions with an undermanned team against a strong St Kilda outfit and while there were times when we weren’t completely in control of the game, we battled hard to make sure that we would get the four points.
Despite locking the footy inside our forward 50, St Kilda caught us on the break twice and kicked two goals as a result. Although we controlled the majority of the quarter, we still went into the first break trailing slightly behind.
Despite getting ourselves right back in the game and took back the lead, disaster struck as Irene threw herself into a contest, as she does every week, and her body fell one way while her opponent fell on her leg the other way. Unfortunately, play had to be stopped for 15 minutes while Renie was stretchered off the field and subsequently taken to hospital.
The girls, obviously spurred on by their teammate’s unfortunate injury, came out all guns blazing and kicked away in the third quarter. The delivery inside forward 50 from Tory, Toni, Sommer and Mif helped push us right out in front and take complete control of the game. As Sommer came to the bench with a sore toe and Toni felt some soreness, the girls were tasked with running out the game with no rotations. Although St Kilda dominated the final quarter, the game was won when we needed it to be won, allowing space for the imminent fadeout that would come from having no bench rotations. Despite this, we still ran out comfortable 25-point winners.
Our midfielders continued to show their dominance and an improved defensive effort in the second half really set up a strong win. The defensive work of Layna was again incredible while Gunners kept her opponent quiet and Swede showed her typical run and carry. Kate’s ruck work gave our midfielders first use of the football time and time again. It’s incredibly valuable to have a ruckman that not only wins the hitouts but creates a ground option and marks in the backline.
It’s an extremely bittersweet victory for us. The win puts us on top of the ladder for the first time this season but was marred by a serious knee injury. It was a tough old start to the game that was made even more tougher when Renie went down with a serious knee injury. Injuries of any sort are not good to see but to see a girl go down with such a serious injury, especially when her goal was simply to win the footy, is heartbreaking. We all wish Renie a speedy recovery and hope for the absolute best.
This season keeps on throwing new challenges at us. Key players have been rewarded with senior spots to cover injuries and we’ve had injury troubles of our own but when it comes to crunch time, we find a way to play attractive football and get a win. Now that we’ve hit the halfway mark and we are in second on equal points with Melbourne Uni, we have proven to ourselves that we are good enough to go deep into finals. The challenge is ahead of us.
Premier Division
Darebin 4.0, 8.1, 15.3, 19.3 (117)
St Kilda 1.0, 2.0, 2.0, 3.1 (19)
Goals
Darebin: J. Lange 5, S. Smith 3, N. Callinan 2, R. Privitelli 2, G. Hammond 2, S. Egan , S. Simpson , H. Florance , J. Dal Pos , T. Ashby
St Kilda: T. Norquay , A. Tully , G. Harris
Best
Darebin: D. Pearce, J. Lange, M. Hickey, T. Ashby, S. Smith, N. Callinan
St Kilda: Not provided
With the number of St Albans players making their way over to St Kilda, it was going to be interesting to see how the Falcons could tackle the unpredictability of the Sharks.
It was again the Falcons that took a lead into quarter time, this one only by 18 points. The game was tough and tight for both sides to create any real space.
Although the Falcons took control on the scoreboard, the Sharks were making life very difficult with the 37-point margin in favour of the Falcons at half time not a true reflection of how tight and tough the game was. Daisy and Hickey took control of midfield and defence while Janeo was finding her straps closer to the goals.
It was in the third quarter that Darebin broke the shackles and raced out to a big margin, kicking seven goals to none and putting the game beyond doubt.
Another four goals to one in the final term capped off yet another huge Falcons win, this time by 98 points.
Trashby’s hardness at the football played a big role in the victory while Janeo, Sammy, Georgia, Richo and Nic C combined for 14 goals between them, keeping the Sharks defenders guessing.