VFLW Match Report – Round 14

This week restrictions eased and Falcons family were once more able to support from the sidelines for the final match of the season after 4 weeks of social restrictions and statewide lock downs.  Although a sunny Melbourne day, there were considerable mud patches to be found on the Bill Lawry Oval, and the challenge was to to clear the ball out of stoppages in slippery conditions.  As a last match of the season, the Falcons found it difficult to match the enthusiasm of the visitors, who were playing for a place in the finals.

The match started with some quick ball movement and Essendon scoring in the first few minutes before the Falcons put some more body in to the contests to hold up the play. Although battling hard, the ball was mostly played up the far end, with the Bombers putting on another 2 goals.  The second quarter the Falcons came out with some renewed intensity and moving the ball more accurately from the stoppages, looked more dangerous.  With some creativity with the ball movement, and good timing from the forwards, Falcs started to build their opportunities.  Despite good attacking play and strong marks, both Pepa Poultney and Trinity Mills kicked only behinds, and the momentum was unable to be maintained.  Essendon pushed back hard, with desperation showing in Bomber Jesse Davis’s full body smash into the goal post to kick her 2nd goal.  Falcons trailed by 31 points at the main break.

In the second half, the game continued the tough struggle for the defenders with Essendon having most of the momentum and intensity.  Falcons had some great patches of play, and were able to contest and hold up the play.  But the Essendon midfielders were lively and playing like they wanted finals, adding on 2 more goals in the 3rd quarter.  The final quarter saw both teams were unable to score a goal in the 20 mins of play, with Essendon running out 50 point winners at the final siren.

This AFL Life’s Rachel Hibbert celebrated her 50 game milestone game this week, a significant moment for the player who came somewhat late to her footy career only to miss an entire season due to the COVID restrictions in the 2020 season.  Sophie Padovano in her second VFLW match played with good intensity at the ball, and Ellen Buckley had a stand out game.  Sidney Cubasch ran and rucked well all day.  On field leadership came from defensive stalwarts Kathleen Roe and Nic Callinan who competed hard all day, with support from Samara David.

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