U12 Girls Match Report
Round 1
v Boronia @ Tormore Reserve
A cracking day with fantastic weather saw the U12 girls play Boronia on their home ground. The girls were very excited as this weeks captain, Jess.. led them onto the field to officially start their season.
Boronia had close to a full squad, but due to injuries and player unavailability we only had 9 girls to play. After a chat with their coach, a shorter ground was deemed more suitable and he offered to give us 4 of their players each quarter to make up a 13 V 13 contest. This sportsmanship was obviously appreciated.
Boronia started well and was in control at quarter time. We came back in the second quarter to kick a few of our own goals but the scoreboard reflected their dominance on the ground at half time. After regrouping during the break.. the girls continued to try their best at the contest and push the ball forward but the relentless pressure from the opposition saw a lot of the play in our defence and more goals came as a result of this. We also lost Lily who came off injured after getting a knock in a contest.
Facing a large deficit at 3 qtr time I just reiterated our points from training that we focus on and reminded them of our #1 goal... Fun!
Lily returned to play in the forward line for the last quarter but the ball didn’t come down much as the goals kept coming for Boronia. Tigerlily also came off injured in the last as the game came to an end.
In a game that was obviously one sided.. our girls tried hard all day and by the end of the game were exhausted. The temperature was in the high 20’s during the game, so this.. combined with lack of personnel made it real tough for the girls in the end.
We have a number of things we can take out of this game and look forward to our next game where we will continue to improve as a team!
Paul McNiff
Round 2
Round 2 U12G v The Basin @ Home
Round 2 provided us with the opportunity to honour and reflect on the sacrifices made by our Anzac’s! Seeing both teams lined up together, it was a truly moving moment!
We had some players back this week that missed round 1 in Raelene and Pippa. We also had Lexie who has joined us along with Gemma which was great to see 👍🏻 Lily was our captain this week.. and did a fantastic job in leading her teammates!
It was a tight 1st quarter that was played in both 50 meter arc’s! Ella started in the middle and took a number of marks from opposition kicks. Despite everyone’s efforts.. our opponents headed into the first break a couple of goals ahead.
In the 2nd quarter we continued to apply pressure around the contest and Jess, our leading goal kicker was able to slot a goal through out of the pack! Ella continued too mark anything that came her way, but our opposition were also able to add to their score and we went into half time a few goals down.
The third quarter seemed to be dominated by the opposition. Despite our efforts, we struggled to get the ball into our attacking 50 meter arc, the majority of the play being played in their half.
After the final break, the girls really fought hard to get the ball forward and keep it in our forward line to create opportunities to score. Unfortunately the ball spent a lot of time in our defensive 50. Raelene had been moved back into defence and took a number of intercepting marks and really provided some drive forward.. she was pivotal in stopping a number of their forward advances. Tigerlily also played in defence at the back of the pack and was able to stop a late goal from being scored.
The girls have again showed great resilience and kept playing till the end. I’m very proud of their endeavour and I’m sure we can be competitive in our future games!
Paul McNiff
Round 3
V SBL @ Narre Warren East
Today our girls took on South Belgrave/Lysterfield in their round 3 encounter! To even out the numbers between both teams their coach offered to give us two players each quarter which was greatly appreciated. Our captain for today was Clara and she won the coin toss and decided to kick to the end that had a slight breeze advantage.
The girls started off well with lots of pressure around the contest. They were able to kick 3 goals in the opening quarter which was a fantastic effort
SBL kicked back in the second to kick a few of their own to reduce the margin at half time. The pressure was fantastic, especially in the middle where a lot of girls were playing for the first time. This was great to see!
Each team had their moments in the third quarter and were able to add to the scoreboard. The girls were in good spirits at the end of the quarter holding a two goal lead at the final break.
In a tough last quarter, SBL were able to chip away at our lead and with a couple of minutes to go, kicked a goal to take the lead. Unfortunately the girls ran out of time to get the lead back and lost by a couple of points.
Despite the Loss, this performance has been their most complete performance as a team. The workload was shared and the girls appear to be taking steps which will inevitably improve their individual games as the season goes on!
Paul McNiff
Round 4
This round is a BYE
Round 5
v Rowville @ Rowville
This round, our girls played Rowville on their home ground. Both teams had the same number of players which meant we didn’t have to “borrow” opposition players to make an even contest this week. Our number of players has slowly been growing. New recruit Summer has joined the team and Ava is making good progress in her recovery and will hopefully play in coming weeks. Our captain this week was Sienna.
Good conditions for footy, but a strong breeze blowing to the Southern end saw us kicking with the breeze despite Rowville winning the toss. The blustery conditions in the first quarter made field kicking at hitting targets hard. The girls made a good effort around the contest, but Rowville impacted the scoreboard to lead at the first break.
The wind didn’t let up in the second and Rowville were able to add to their lead with the wind at their back. Throughout the quarter, our defence was able to rush a number of behinds.. that was pleasing to see, as it’s something we touched on at training and the girls were able to apply it in the game when under pressure.
Our only goal scored came against the trend of play and was definitely a highlight of the day for us. Three marks in succession down the ground from excellent kicks resulted in one of our best goals in the season to date.
Despite the efforts from all the girls.. the second half was one way traffic in regards to scoring and general possession of ball. As the game wore on, we found it harder to apply pressure on their ball carriers and were unable to get the ball heading forward which meant we were under a lot of defensive pressure.. The scoreboard probably reflected this in the end.
A lot to take out of this game, but despite the result.. the girls continue to work and improve and we will move on to round 6 with optimism!
Paul McNiff
Round 7
v Heathmont @ Home
After a few weeks on the road, we were finally back at home for round 7. With both teams fielding 14 players, it promised to be a tight contest. Our team was led out today by their fearless captain Ella.
A very tight contest in the first quarter saw lots of tackles and play in the middle of the ground with both teams going into the first break without impacting the scoreboard.
Heathmont were able to score in the second to take a 7 pt lead into the main break, our girls still searching for their first scoring opportunity.
An even third quarter saw both team’s score a goal and a behind each. Our leading goal scorer Jess was able grab the ball and run through the opposition to kick a great goal. With only a small margin in it, we were confident going into the 4th quarter that we were still a chance to compete for our first win.
Like the first quarter.. the last was focused around the contested ball and unfortunately we weren’t able to add to our score, a few behinds to our opponents sealed the win for them.
A great team effort with lots of girls playing in different positions and accepting new challenges. Lily and Lexie shared ruck duties against a bigger bodied opponent and we’re really important for us when competing in the midfield. Gemma also took her game to the next level with lots of tackles and pressure on the opposition. Next round we play our round 1 opponents and look to showcase how much we improved and evolved as a team in the last 8 weeks!
Paul McNiff
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