By Lachlan SHIRLEY

QUITE fittingly, it will be the top two teams in the Geelong Region Women’s Division 1 competition that will compete for the top prize in this weekend’s Grand Final at Myers Reserve after both the Rangers and Deakin won their respective semi-final matches last weekend.

PHOTO: Division 1 Golden Boot winner Lara Heric tears away for Geelong Rangers against Drysdale last Saturday afternoon (Photo: Mark Tizard)

The league champions Geelong Rangers hosted last year’s league champions Drysdale at Myers Reserve. Drysdale fought hard right from the start, putting lots of pressure on the Rangers making it hard for them to settle into their plan.

Rangers’ first goal came from an early breakthrough where Zoe Tizard hit the post and Ally van Dalen made good use of the rebound to make it 1-0 which turned out to be the only goal for the first half.

Drysdale came out strongly after the half time break to push for an equalizer, but once again Rangers kept Drysdale scoreless.

Rangers dealt with Drysdale’s breakthroughs well and set up some counterattacks of its own, one of which resulted in a handball inside the 18-yard box. Rangers were subsequently awarded a penalty and Ruby McCloskey made no mistake from the spot to make it 2-0.

Not long afterwards, a well-placed corner for Rangers was knocked in from Lara Heric which provided the Dark Blues with an unassailable lead.

Nonetheless, Drysdale still fought to the end and eventually Serena Stephens found the net for a consolation goal for Drysdale to end their 2018 season with a 1-3 loss.

Across town at Deakin University’s Waurn Ponds campus, Deakin Ducks secured their place in the Grand Final by defeating Barwon 1-0.

Deakin looked to be slight favorites going into the game after finishing five points clear of Barwon in the regular season and that’s how the result eventually panned out. The scorer of the only goal of the game was Saraya Moreton, although it was officially noted down as an own goal.

In Women’s Division 2, Lara United and Surfside Waves have both progressed to the Grand Final after they each won their respective semi-finals.

Lara hosted near neighbours Geelong at the Lara Recreation Reserve and came away from the clash with an emphatic 7-1 victory.

Surfside Waves, meanwhile, ended Corio Bay’s chances of securing a spot in the Grand Final after comfortably defeating the visitors 3-1 at Shell Road Reserve in Ocean grove on the Friday night.

Lachlan Shirley is a young SEDA student, currently doing work experience with FFV Geelong. He will be compiling regular weekly reports on the Geelong Region Men’s and Women’s Division 1 competitions.