Catherine Wotton Cup
Premier Reserves
East Burwood 3.1, 4.1, 6.5, 9.7 (61)
Darebin 3.0, 5.3, 6.3, 9.5 (59)
GOALS, East Burwood : Michelle Aurisch 3, Olivia Crowe 2, Laura Cartledge 1, Sarah McNamara 1, Jessica Trend 1, Wiki Yu 1
Darebin: Rebecca Hickmott 6, Sommer Portway 1, Kathy Zacharopoulos 1, Kate Tyndall 1
BEST, East Burwood : Shakira Carver-Moore, Kathy McBride, Michelle Palmer, Jessica Trend, Laura Cartledge, Olivia Crowe
Darebin : Kate Tyndall, Emily Whitfield , Anna Brown, Rebecca Hickmott, Alberta Gunner, Alanna Porter
Last Saturday provided perfect conditions for footy at AH Capp Reserve, where the Falcons took on the Eastern Devils. The Falcons, still plagued by injuries and players unavailable, predicted it would be a tough match and came out firing, kicking 3 goals before the ball had entered the Devils’ forward line. However, the Devils responded quickly, and were leading by 1 point at the first break.
The second quarter continued with high intensity, and despite the Darebin bench being depleted, no one told Leo the Beaglier that he couldn’t play for the Falcs! He was like a kid in a candy shop running around until J-Dawg got her catch of the day and safely removed Leo boy from the field. The remainder of the quarter saw the Falcons kick 5 goals and take the lead into the half time break.
The Darebin backline was under pressure in the second half trying to keep the Eastern Devils’ tall forwards under control, with Whitty and Gunners displaying courage and attacking the ball. Best on ground Tyndall was hard at the ball and provided some much needed run to clear the ball time and time again. Up the other end, Bec Hickmott was giving a captain’s performance, playing front position, taking contested marks, and bagging 6 goals by the final siren.
The beginning of the fourth quarter saw the Devils convert goals quickly and it looked like Darebin had run out of legs. The likes of Taz, Spana, Zachy, Tory, Til and Socksy continued to fight and inspire the Falcs, but it wasn’t quite enough to get the win, with the Devils defeating the Falcons by 2 points.
Premier Division
Darebin 1.0, 3.1, 5.5, 10.6 (66)
East Burwood 2.2, 4.4, 4.7, 5.9 (39)
Darebin: Jessica Dal Pos 3, Darcy Vescio 3, Sharon Roussos 2, Stephanie Simpson 1, Aasta O’Connor 1
GOALS, East Burwood : Sarah D’Arcy 3, Shelley Beggs 1, Meg Hutchins 1
Darebin : Emma Kerry, Julia Chiera, Shevaun Hogan, Natalie Wood, Aasta O’Connor, Lauren Arnell
BEST, East Burwood : Amy Wynne, Lauren Tesoriero, Meg Hutchins, Tricia Muller, Meg Downie, Jo Wotton
Round 12 loomed tough for the Falcons. With four players out and four others having participated in the high performance training week, the task of facing an in form and confident Eastern Devils was not going to be an easy one. The Devils were coming off a big win over last year’s premier St Albans and with the Falcons rotations down, a warm day ahead, and the Cath Wotten cup up for grabs, the challenge was well and truly on.
As expected, the home side (who were actually the visitors – the Devils playing a home game at AH Capp) came out firing. The match started at a frantic pace and would continue this way for most of the day. The Devils had 3 more shots on goal and 6 more forward entries and the Falcons looked a little overwhelmed by the speed and skills the Devils were exhibiting. The Falcons found themselves with the footy boot on the other foot, this time being the team who was having most forward thrusts repelled by the opposition.
In the second quarter the Falcons settled and started to play the game on their terms. They took the pace out of the game where they could but were still let down by skill and decision making errors – not to mention a most obnoxious ball which would NOT bounce their way. Even so, the Falcons managed to keep themselves in the game by some strong defensive efforts. For a while, the game was one of rebounding defences and more often than once the coaching staff on the sideline were counting teal jumpers – they seemed to be everywhere!
At half time the Falcs found themselves in slightly unfamiliar territory – down on the scoreboard. Richo rallied his troops with a resounding and passionate half time address – albeit interrupted by the call back to the field. The pump up worked. Janeo, in a perfect display of what women’s round was all about, shrieked, ducked and put up the “No Deal” sign when the ball came her way, claiming a thing called “The Sun” obscured her vision. However, even with the Devils playing an 8 man backline, the Falcons found their way to goal through patience and persistence. Second and third efforts all over the ground epitomised the amazing courage and discipline across the team. It was quite clear the Falcons were wearing down both the mental and physical toughness of their opposition.
By the final quarter the score had swung into the Falcons favour and they didn’t let it go. Whilst their opposition continued to tire, the Falcons pushed harder, crushing their opponents with a 5 goal to 1 last quarter to run out the game 27 point winners. The Falcons backline was simply superb on the day, lead by Kimmy, Shivs and JC. Young Darcy showed some amazing courage and was one of the catalysts for the Falcons kicking into top gear in the second half. As always, the Falcons midfield showed superiority and depth, despite being 2 (wo)men down and requiring heavy rotations all day (great board management Dani!). At the end of the day it was an extremely satisfying result for players and coach and the song was definitely sung with extra gusto! A big thank you goes out to Shan Egan and Kate Tyndall for providing depth to an undermanned team. The Falcons go into this week’s match against Diamond Creek pumped and full of confidence to march into finals footy.