Round 11 saw a Friday Night Lights game in the depth of winter. St George took on Wests at Mahoney Park. St George were weakened with a few of their players who had escaped to Europe and had to rely on five first-gamers but with winning momentum winning their last two matches took on 3rd
placed Wests. A bright start at the start of the match had Ashlee McClure scoring the opening goal for the Dragons but after that it was all the Wolves for the rest of the evening. Despite the drizzly light rain, the Wolves poured on the goals with seven goals in the first quarter. From there the Wolves were never headed although the Dragons defence tightened up especially in the 2
nd half by dropping players in the back/corridor and getting numbers at the ball. It was a spectacular
Wolves win of 19.15.129 to 1.1.7 in the slippery conditions.
Those who distinguished themselves were (Wolves) Talei Owen, Cynthia Dufaut, Georgia Woodyard, Baccara Griffiths, Shelley Bates, Rachel Mercer (Dragons) Jessica Purcell, Ashlee McClure, Brittany Day and Louise Glasgow.
Saturday saw two matches at Mahoney. In the early morning game, 2
nd placed Balmain
took on 7th placed UNSW-Easts Stingrays.
A much improved Stingrays played the game and their skills were cleaner than last weeks game against St George. They were competitive and had enough forward entries in their 50m but didn’t always convert their chances on the scoreboard. The Dockers were fielding a team struck by injury and relied on the depth of their playing list to win the game. The final score was 11.5.71 to 4.5.29.
Those who distinguished themselves were (Stingrays) Melissa Breuker, Norma Bros (Dockers)
Ange Skolarikis, Natalie Morgan, Lisa McGinnigle, Janene Thorpe.
However the loss means that the Stingrays have picked up the wooden spoon for 2009 for the third year in a running. They have always tried hard and no team has been complacent playing against them. The Stingrays will have to develop a long-term plan about retention and stability of their playing roster in order to challenge for finals contention in the future.
In the last game 1st
placed Newtown took on 5th placed Sydney University.
The key to victory was once again a dominant first quarter by the Breakaways where they scored 5.2.32 to no score. Quick teamwork led to a goal in less than a minute. The Sydney University Bombers tried hard and outscored the Breakaways by a point but today was a Breakaway team determined to rectify last weeks lethargy against Balmain and send a statement of intent to the rest of the competition. Despite the loss of playmaker Natasha Devlin to a yellow card in the final quarter, the Breakaways continued on with the job to win 13.6.84 to 2.6.18.
The loss makes life harder for the Bombers and their finals hopes now lie in results going their way and winning the last two of their matches against Wests and Bondi.
Those who distinguished themselves were (Bombers) Danielle McCarthy, Emma Yuen and Renee Harrington
(Breakaways) Roxy McGee, Carly Reasbeck and Krystle Thompson.
The development game was forfeited by Bondi Shamrocks over Macquarie University due to injuries due to the NSW Gaelic Athletic Association League Finals.
The ladder after Round 11, has Newtown 1st, Balmain 2nd, Wests 3rd, Bondi 4th, Sydney University 5th, St George 6th and UNSW-Easts 7th.
Implications for the Finals
After Sydney University's loss on the weekend, the maximum point score they can reach is now 24 points (currently on 16 with two games in hand) which means that the three teams above 24 points automatically qualify for the finals. This means that the 4th spot is still open between the Bondi Shamrocks (20 points - 3 games in hand), Sydney Uni and St George (12 points but on inferior %).
The Shamrocks require a win and at least a draw of assuring themselves of a spot in the finals. They play St. George, Newtown and then finish up against Sydney Uni.
Sydney Uni as mentioned before need to win their two games (against Wests and the Shamrocks).
St George need to win all three of their matches against Shamrocks, Balmain and Newtown.
For the top 3 teams - why does the double chance mean so much?
The top three teams are still fighting it out for the coveted minor premiership and the double chance in the finals. A casual spectator would say that the Breakaways are in the box seat to capture the minor premiership with Balmain slugging it out with Wests in the Round 14 match for 2nd spot. In the history of the league winning the minor premiership has meant your team has always made the grand final and has a 89% of winning the premiership. Coming 2nd means your team has an 89% probability of making the grand final.
Golden Boot News sees Marie Keating on 31 goals, Belinda Pride with 23 goals 2nd, Rebecca Burridge on 19 goals in 3rd and Rachel Mercer in 4th on 17 goals.
Last Modified on 12/07/2009 07:56