U18 Girls Rd6 Match Report…
Round 6 – Upper Bayswater vs SBL Wolves.
Our first game at Bayswater Junior Oval for the season saw us take on the SBL Wolves. With over a quarter of our side unavailable, and some players taking the field despite not being one hundred per cent, we played the game with fourteen on the field and one on the bench.
A slow start saw us down 27 points to 8 at half time. In a fantastic third quarter, we kicked three goals and held SBL scoreless which meant scores were level at three quarter time. Agonisingly, SBL kicked the first goal of the last quarter, to move ahead again. Tensions were high as the clock ticked down, and our girls, cheered on by a vocal home crowd, refused to give up. With defensive pressure high all over the ground, we hit the lead by a couple of points and fought hard to hold on, with Paige sealing the deal with a goal after the siren.
Some highlights included:
– Bridie and Chelsea giving us pace around the ground and making solid contributions.
– Em CT and Charli providing a lot of pressure in the forward line, the latter with two goals.
– Paige and Jaslyn playing big minutes in the middle, and giving us plenty of drive around the ground, to help cover the loss of our midfield rotations.
– Jess kicking her first ever goal.
– Quiet achievers Mel and Lily, continually attacking the contest, with Lily also kicking a goal.
– Tahlia helping our backline, with Libby once again showing a lot of poise and toughness also in the back half of the ground.
– Rana silky as usual, in the midfield and supporting our defence.
– Rhian playing outside her usual role in the middle, but providing her usual gritty second and third efforts elsewhere on the ground.
– Sienna and Em P getting to lots of contests and competing hard for four quarters, Sienna with a broken finger for most of the game.
– Darcy attacking contests hard, and tackling aggressively.
To our injured and ill players, we wish you a speedy recovery. With some tough games ahead, we’ll be needing as many players available as possible.
In a nail-biter, we eventually overcame SBL 6.5-41 to 5.3-33.