Footy Season is back.
On the 26th of February more than 100 High-School girls competed in the 2015 Youth Girls Cup. The competition had expanded to have 5 junior teams and 6 senior teams.
The Darling Downs Girls were very fortunate to have Melbourne Demons and QLD local Taylah Harris to help umpire and mentor the girls through-out the day.
The Junior Division was played in the right spirt with the girls going for victory but more importantly were enjoying the game of AFL and for many were experiencing playing for the first time.
Keith Webb (Regional Manager) was quoted, “This is the first opportunity many of these girls have played AFL but you can see from the first game to the last game the amount of improvement already is tremendous and they are having lots of fun which is the main thing.”
The round robin format for the Under 14s allowed every team to play each other and all teams were able to register at least one victory. Two teams stood out throughout the early rounds St Ursula’s and St Joseph’s as they started to assert their dominance over the rest of the competition. Harristown, Highfields Blue and Highfields Red were not just making up the numbers though as they battled hard against the two top teams and kept their spirits up in there games.
After every team had played against each other the two teams went through to the Grand-Final, St Ursula’s and St Josephs. The game was played in a fast and physical encounter as both teams tried to assert their authority over one another. St Ursula’s began to stamp there authority on the game as they started to run riot over St Joseph’s. They brought the heat with frantic running and tackling pressure and it started to show as they started to run away with the game.
In the end St Ursula’s were too strong to run away comfortable winners.
The Open Division was played very physical, fast paced and with lots of flair. A number of girls tasted AFL for the first time and they were bringing their own sports skills into our great game. Side steps, strong tackle and of cause the odd throw of the footy to keep everyone on their toes.
If there was one team on a mission it was St Saviours, after narrowly losing the Grand Final in 2014 they came prepared to win it all. At times they were simply untouchable as they moved the ball through the corridor with pin point passes and then unleashing 40m bombs straight through the middle of the big sticks. They played as a team and there pressure was frantic as they kept the pressure up through all there games to be undefeated through the round robin stages.
St Ursula’s have always been a school who wants to win everything they compete in and the Youth Girls Cup was no different. Their style of play was a combination of all the sports the girls played as they wanted to get out into space and run. If the ball hit the ground they were clean with pick- ups and dishing off too team mates.
The sheer amount of girls that wanted to play for Downlands was impressive as they entered two teams. Downlands Blue and Downlands Red played an impressive style of footy as they moved the ball around the field and physical pressure was a key to their victories. Downlands Blue had a couple key targets that were be able to get the ball moving I their direction and kept the pressure on all day to record 3 victories.
Downlands Red toiled away all day fighting for possession and there tackling pressure was first class. Their determination to win the ball and then fight to win it back was fantastic too see. They were able to record a victory by the end of the day.
Concordia were the new school on the block for the Youth Girls Cup. They were a late inclusion into the competition but that didn’t mean they were going to be easy beats. Concordia used there pace and the grunt of their midfield to move the ball forward. They were terrific all day as they constitenly kept the pressure up. They improved out of site by the end of the round robin games for a team that came together very close to the tournament they should be very proud as they recorded 2 victories.
Harristown has been traditionally very strong for soccer however they turned up to play some very skilful AFL. There pin point kicks to find open team mates were a joy to watch. They never stopped harassing, tackling and fighting for every possession. There improvement throughout the day was noticeable as they started to link up handballs through the corridor to move the ball into the forward line. Unfortunately there were not able to record a victory but they played the whole way to final siren.
The Grand-Final was against the silky smooth and 2014 Runners Up, St Saviours against the electric St Ursula’s. They were the top two teams as they only lost 1 game between them. Both teams played a different style of football but both were a joy to watch. The first half was all about who could handle the pressure and were able to stamp there authority over there opposing team. St Saviours started the game on fire, winning the first clearance and putting it in long to their tall forwards. Unfortunately they missed their first set shot. St Ursula’s found it very difficult to get the ball out of there defensive 50, as St Saviours showed everyone how to apply a defensive wall behind the footy. To the credit of the St Ursula’s defenders they battled manfully and kept the pressure on and would not allow their opponents to find space and get easy kicks.
After 10 mins of constant pressure Saviours were finally able to break the goal breaking draught to register their first goal after 4 behinds. Another centre clearance win for St Saviours have a golden opportunity to kick their second goal in a matter of minutes. However they squandered another golden opportunity. After this behind St Ursula’s were finally able to find there space and spread and moved the ball straight through the corridor into their forward line for their first goal of the game.
Half Time Score: St Saviours 1.7. 13 to St Ursula’s 1.1. 7
A few started to wonder if all those missed opportunities would come back to haunt the Saviour girls just like the 2014 Grand Final. Step up All Australian Representative Shaleise Law and St Saviours forward star. They began the second half as a team possessed and Law didn’t let them down in front of the big sticks as she kicked goal after goal from all angles. Not only was she electric when the ball hit the ground but also when there was a chance for a strong grab in front of a pack she went up. A huge momentum went in the Saviours direction and St Ursula’s never gave up they just couldn’t keep their pace up as St Saviours ran riot and ran away with victory.
Final Score: St Saviours 12.11. 83 to St Ursula’s 1.1. 7
Last Modified on 28/06/2016 14:04