Women’s Footy Match Report – We have hit the scoreboard!

This was a highly anticipated game of football with Boronia taking on the visitors from Thornton-Eildon in front of an enthusiastic crowd at Tormore Reserve.  Both teams struggle a bit up forward, so the game was set to be tight.  The Hawks welcomed Lina Kabris to the team for her first game and were also very pleased to have Briar Forrer-Lacey back in action after her return from China the night before the game!  We had a strong lineup this week despite missing three key players in Sam Mellis, Kat Buzinskas and Lana Kitteringham from the previous game.

The first quarter was intense, with lots of hard footy as the ball rebounded up and down the ground.  As always, Rhiannon Smith and Phoebe Lacey were working hard in the last line of defence; Candyce Wright, Charmaine Chu on the outer side and Jess Buzinskas and Tegan Doran on the members side of the ground were all keeping busy and racking up possessions.  Chloe Timms was doing well in the ruck.  Both teams were here to play, but Thornton-Eildon snuck through for a goal against the run of play.   Only seven points down at quarter time and there was a sense that the Hawks were right in this one.

The Hawks attacked relentlessly in the second, with Amanda Davidson, Dee Caiafa and Briar driving the ball forward.  Amanda Cellante even took two bounces as she dashed through the guts!  Then it happened – the opposition lost their structure under pressure and the ball spilled free to Brynie Kinniff who pounced on the loose ball in the goal square and scored the historic first goal for the Hawks!  The girls mobbed each other to celebrate the goal and the crowd erupted with cheering and applause as the wild scenes continued on-field!  Co-coaches Ray Lacey and Scott Nicholas embraced on the bench as Sam, our runner for the day, ran on to the field and jumped up and down in jubilation!  Back to business though as Thornton-Eildon lifted their game to lead by 21 points at half-time.

The third quarter saw more hard yakka around the packs.  Enter Bec Allen and Courtney Storen who both thrive with the hard ball gets, while Darcy Flanagan and Alix Penny kept up the tackle pressure.  The deeper bench of Thornton-Eildon meant that fresh legs were now making an impact at the scoring end as they ran the ball forward to create more opportunities, taking them to seven goals.  Did the Hawks have enough in the tank to run out the game?  

Dee Caiafa was on fire in the last quarter, taking one memorable run of 30 meters without a bounce, but also carving up the back line to break through for a behind soon followed by a team-lifting goal!  It now seemed that the girls saw their chance as the forward line came alive with Stacey Peril, Jasmine Lacey and Karen Little getting dangerous and creating opportunities.  Amanda “Davo” Davidson and Jess Buzinskas were playing tough footy in the final stanza, locking the ball in to our half.  Courtney and Chloe both took strong contested marks inside 50 but found the big sticks were elusive with the tricky breeze.

The Hawks were down by 41 points when the siren went, but the whole side had played their best footy for the season.  With a number of players back soon, including Demi Thomas, the signs are good if the consistent approach to training continues.  The whole Club was buzzing after the game and the girls won a lot of friends amongst the Hawk supporters watching them for the first time.