Women's Football Round Review
Listen back to this week’s The 5th Quarter podcast, featuring East Brighton’s Greg Young as the special guest, in the player above.
DIVISION 1 – ROUND 1 REVIEW
By Daniel Ewart
East Brighton 16.32 (128) def Hallam 0.1 (1)
The Vampires have started their season off with a bang following a 127-point win over Hallam at Hurlingham Park. Last year’s preliminary finalists were never put under any real pressure, leading by 69 at the half. By that stage the game had been decided, but East Brighton continued to widen the margin before, mercifully, the final siren sounded.
For Hallam, Jessica Barber, Emily Meszaros and Filiz Lang tried hard all day, but their efforts were in vain as a superior Vampires side came away with the four points.
East Brighton faces a tougher test in Round 2 against fellow preliminary finalists Mordialloc. Hallam will come against last year’s runner up next week, in the form of Oakleigh District
Oakleigh District 20.13 (133) def Highett 0.4 (4)
Oakleigh District began their pursuit of another Grand Final in the best way possible, smashing Highett by 129 points at Princes Highway Reserve. The game, which was played under lights, saw last year’s runner up dominate from start to finish while keeping Highett’s scoring to just four behinds.
Emily McIntyre was the standout for Oakleigh. She booted 12 of her side’s 20 goals to be the clear best on ground. There were a number of other strong contributors, with Bayley and Jordan Mifsud both adding three goals.
On a difficult night for the Bulldogs, Samantha Cohen, Mia Smith and Samantha Whitelaw showed good fighting spirit, but the positives were few and far between.
It doesn’t get any easier for Highett in Round 2 as they face the reigning premiers Murrumbeena. Oakleigh, on the other hand, will be looking to make it two wins from two as they face off against Hallam at Hallam Reserve.
Murrumbeena 27.25 (187) def Bentleigh 0.0 (0)
Murrumbeena’s premiership defence has got off to a flyer as they demolished Bentleigh by 187 points at Murrumbeena Park. After a dominant first quarter where they finished with a 43-point lead, Beena didn’t look back. A 48-point final quarter sealed a perfect start for the reigning premiers in 2018.
The goals were shared around for Murrumbeena, with 13 different players registering a major. Lauren Luff and Aisling Muir lead the way with four each. Shanae Carter and Ally Brammer were also instrumental and among the best on the ground.
Murrumbeena will face semi finalists from 2017, Highett in Round 2. Bentleigh will head into round two with only improvement possible. They face Endeavour Hills at Bentleigh Reserve.
Endeavour Hills 6.7 (43) def by Mordialloc 6.10 (46)
The closest game of the opening round was saved for last, with Mordialloc emerging as three-point victors over Endeavour Hills at Barry Simon Reserve.
The tight affair saw a number of strong performances from both sides. Devi Whelan was the best for Endeavour Hills, kicking three goals. She was aptly helped by the work of Hayley Heffernan and Amanda Hancock.
For the victors Clare Webster kicked two, while Jessica Vivian and Alice Allet were also key players.
The winners from this close game, Mordialloc, face East Brighton in Round 2, while Endeavour Hills come up against another winless team in the form of Bentleigh.
DIVISION 2 – ROUND 1 REVIEW
By Jess Mackey
Clayton 17.13 (115) defeated Chelsea Heights 2.0 (12)
In the opening match of the women’s season for division 2, Clayton were the clear winners against Chelsea Heights, winning by over 100 points.
Clayton made their mark on the competition, conceding just two goals as they won it out of the middle consecutively throughout the day to earn themselves the opportunity for 30 scoring shots to just the two.
Catrina Mastroianni was outstanding for her side, booting four goals. But Clayton proved they would not be a side to rely on one forward to kick all their goals, sharing the load so much that they had seven total goal kickers.
Frankston Dolphins 2.4 (16) defeated Doveton Eagles 0.3 (3)
In a low scoring affair, Frankston Dolphins have also begun their season with a win after defeating the Doveton Eagles.
The game was a tight tussle, with both sides struggling to keep the ball in their forward 50 and convert opportunities into goals. For the winning side, Kaja Freimann and Grace Van Noord were both able to kick a goal each and produce some really good pressure on the scoreboard.
Lyndale 8.6 (54) defeated Murrumbeena 0.1 (1)
Lyndale were able to keep the visiting team goalless throughout the entire game as they continued to pile on the scoring shots, to win by 8 goals.
Taylor Kamana had a standout performance, kicking 3 goals and applying good forward pressure all afternoon to help out her teammates. Alicia George also had a really good game, having kicked two goals and she was crucial to the side’s win.
At the end of round one, they now sit on top of the ladder, with some unbelievable percentage that they will be wanting to hold onto going into next week.
South Yarra V Lyndhurst
Unfortunately due to ground unavailability, this match between the Yarras and the Lightning did not go ahead. Efforts will be made to reschedule the game in the coming weeks.
