Round 16: Darebin vs Melbourne University
Premier Reserves
It was a glorious day for football! The sun was shining and the Falcons got off to a fabulous start. Harriet, in her first game back, was everywhere as usual, and took a fantastic mark from a kick-in and slotted through the first goal on a tight angle. Kate showed great attack again, fearlessly keeping her head over the ball and provided plenty of pressure to keep the footy in the Falcons forward line. Naz was fantastic through the middle, chopping off the Mugars attempts to clear the ball, and spotted up Cath who converted truly. The Falcons were dominating possession, getting to the ball first and stringing together handballs and run to deliver the ball into the forward line. Cath kicked her second goal in as many minutes and then Kate set up Kerro for another shortly after. After dominating the first quarter, Taz then snapped for goal truly from the forward pocket and the Falcons went into the break with the game under control.
The Falcons continued to dominate play in the second quarter, but were coming up short on goals. Sommer was taking huge marks across half-forward, and Mattie was smothering the ball with her bum. Til was putting in first, second, third, fourth efforts to keep the ball in the Falcons forward line and was chasing down opponents. Aliesha Mclean made the Mugars forward line impenetrable with her strong marks and run out of the backline, and eventually spotted up Cath for her third goal of the half. When Harriet left the field injured the Falcons played out the rest of the game with only 17 players.
The second half opened with Trashby kicking a great goal. Socksy was strong across the back line, mopping up all the Mugars attacks forwards. Aliesha took a huge mark and kicked a massive goal from just inside 50. The Falcons continued applying forward pressure and Trashby slotted through another goal to finish the quarter. Despite being one short on the field and without a bench all day, the Falcons still applied constant pressure to run out the game. Socksy’s quick hands provided slick clearances out of the centre into the forward line and Taz kicked another brilliant goal, a snap around her body.
A fantastic win!
Darebin 5.3, 6.8, 9.9, 10.14 (74)
Melbourne Uni 0.1, 0.1, 0.1, 0.2 (2)
GOALS, Darebin : Cath Rees 3, Taryn Escreet 2, Tracy Ashby 2, Harriet Radermacher 1, , Kerryn Stephens 1 Aliesha McLean 1
BEST, Darebin : Taryn Escreet, Tracy Ashby, Kate Scodellaro, Cath Rees, Norieul Kinross, Alanna Porter?Melbourne Uni : Madeleine Rode, Katie Sommer, Caroline Duffield, Renee Tsongas, Nicole Van Dijk, Emma Johnson
Premier Division
It was a funny ole’ day in the shadow of Ormond College. The sun was shining like it was Summer, the Falcons had no bench, Dani and Socksy were playing their first games in the Seniors, KD was coaching and there were two Alicia Evas on the field. Coming off successful wins and in their last game of the season, the Mugars had everything to play for. The Falcons got off to a great start, Wearnie was providing a target up forward and leading constantly and Jane’s great snap opened the goal-scoring. Rievers was dominant on the wing, shepherding two opponents at the same time, and Hammo consistently used her strength to clear the ball. The Falcons forwards applied plenty of pressure to keep the ball locked in but struggled to find the big sticks until Aasta kicked a thumping goal. The Mugars worked hard to get possession and push the ball into their forward line where they were rewarded with frees and were converting truly to go into quarter time ahead.
After a flat first quarter the Falcons entered the second with better intensity and momentum. Dani, in her second game of the day, took a huge contested mark and was in the right spots all day. Schwager switched brilliantly to Aasta who through Woody set up Georgia who kicked an insane goal on the run, taking on the opposition and slotting it through from deep in the pocket. Woody continued her strong run, laying tackles and being rewarded with frees for her hard work. Dani set up another goal from the wing, passing off to Woody her kicked forward to the advantage of Georgia who soccered through another goal.
The umpires unfortunately were trying their best to impose their presence on the game, telling Hammo to ‘Shut Up’, giving a Mugar a yellow card for yelling out ‘in the Baaaaaaack!’ (Bs really sound like Fs it seems), blaming Jane for a Mugar sitting on her head and giving the Mugars’ forwards a free in the goal square whenever a Falcon backliner drew a breath. Both the Falcons and the Mugars were trying their best to ignore such imposition, though it was a challenge. After half time and with the team suffering sunstroke, the Falcons continued their run and determination. The third quarter opened with a great clearance from the Falcons, Wearnie taking a huge grab, and Daisy chasin’ and tacklin’. An over the head kick from Loz set up Wearnie for another strong mark and a goal.
Pressure was still high leading into the final quarter, with the heat and lack of bench taking its toll. Aasta and Schwager were dominant in the ruck and both teams attack on the ball intensified. The umpires wayward calls however were frustrating everyone, including some very dissatisfied supporters and what could have been a great game on a glorious day deteriorated in a scrappy and low scoring final quarter.
Despite these challenging external factors, all the Falcons put in massive efforts to come away with the 32 point win. Well done girls.
Darebin 2.4, 7.6, 9.10, 10.13 (73)
Melbourne University 3.1, 5.1, 6.2, 6.5 (41)
GOALS, Darebin : Jane Lange 4, Alana Wearne 2, Aasta O’Connor 2, Georgia Hammond 2?Melbourne University : Kate Macqueen 5, Kylie Byrne 1
BEST, Darebin : Daisy Pearce, Alana Wearne, Sarah Hammond, Natalie Wood, Alicia Reivers, Aasta O’Connor?Melbourne University : Kate Macqueen, Angelica Gogos, Jess Egan, Alicia Eva, Marinella Salafia, Kylie Byrne