Winners in Round 5 VFL Women's included Darebin Falcons, Eastern Devils, Melbourne Uni, Cranbourne and St Kilda.
Falcons remain undefeated
Darebin has seen off yet another challenger with a 50-point win over the VU Western Spurs in a dour contest at Henry Turner Memorial Reserve.
Darebin’s midfield depth proved the difference, helping set up a nine-goal to one first half as they kept their undefeated season intact 11.14 80 to the Spurs 4.6 30, as Callum O’Connor reports.
The highly-anticipated clash between Darebin forward Katie Brennan and Spurs’ defender Lauren Senserrick went the way of the Falcon spearhead. Senserrick has claimed the scalps of St Kilda’s Mo Hope and the Eastern Devils’ Sarah Perkins in the last two matches but Brennan proved a difficult opponent, finding space to lead on the burst. She finished with five first-half goals and was undoubtedly the difference between the two sides.
Along with Brennan, Darebin benefitted from classy performances from usual suspects in Darcy Vescio and Sarah Hammond but their most important players came from deep in the mix. Karen Paxman and defender Alex Reynolds found plenty of the ball both within stoppages and in line-breaking runs and Nicole Callinan compiled a silky four quarter performance.
Alex Quigley, Ainslie Kemp and Sarah Lampard toiled all day in the middle to get the ball forward for the Spurs but the damage had been done. They balanced the contest in the second half, finding the scoreboard as much as the Falcons, with Jess Francke (2) and Alyssa Mifsud (1) netting them three goals.
Darebin coach Jane Lange, who was a match-eve withdrawal with an ankle injury, says her side can easily fix their recent habit of fading out in the second half.
“It was all I told them at three quarter time: our effort and structures were good, it was just poor disposal that cost us,” said Lange.
Opposing coach Debbie Lee said her side was merely “serviceable” and had many identified areas for improvement.
“We weren’t playing man on man early, we were just ball watching,” Lee lamented.
Darebin face fellow top four side the Eastern Devils this Sunday as part of a double header with Coburg vs Essendon at Piranha Park while the Spurs will regroup against Cranbourne at Frenken Homes Oval on Saturday.
Mo gives Creekers no Hope
A ruthless St Kilda Sharks outfit left Diamond Creek ruing missed opportunities at CT Barling Reserve in Round 5 of the VFL Women’s league, running out 50-point winners off the back of a dominant Moana Hope performance, as Michael Di Petta reports.
Hope set the tone early in the first term with back-to-back majors, and remained a constant presence up forward throughout the game, eventually finishing with four goals in the Sharks 11.5 (71) to 2.9 (21) victory.
Despite the slippery conditions, the Sharks didn’t take long to settle. St Kilda fans were quickly singing the praises of star forward Hope, who kicked the games opener on the run from 40 metres out, before slotting a difficult check-side kick moments later.
Jenna Bruton combined superbly with ruck Rachel Achampong to give St Kilda consistent first use of the ball, and it took a good fifteen minutes before the Creekers began to find their feet. When they did, the Creekers run and carry -typified by the dash of Stephanie Chiocci - began to cause problems, but didn’t eventuate into scores.
Diamond Creek finally booted their first major from a stoppage late in the first term, but Hope turned provider for Hyett to re-establish a 16 point Sharks lead at quarter time.
The trend of the game continued for much of the second term. Diamond Creek’s forward pressure consistently placed the Sharks in dangerous scenarios, but the St Kilda defence, led brilliantly by skipper Penny Cula-Reid, managed to nullify attacks.
Brianna Davey began to stamp her influence on the game for St Kilda, and Diamond Creek received a sucker punch when Moana Hope snapped her third after a fluid counter attack. Christina Bernardi gave Diamond Creek a glimmer of hope after a goal and consecutive marks inside fifty, but after her score midway through the second term the Creekers would remain goalless for the rest of the contest.
Carrying a four-goal advantage into the second half, St Kilda was rarely troubled from that point on. When the Creekers did get inside fifty they remained uncharacteristically wasteful, and Penny Cula-Reid continued to play a superb floating role across the defensive fifty, chopping off wayward entries.
Strong goals from Davey and Hope in the third term typified the Sharks performance, a fearsome mix of pace and power. Despite the best efforts of Chiocci and Lisa Williams for the Creekers, the home side was unable to cut into the margin, and were left to blame missed chances when the final siren sounded.
Diamond Creek enjoyed patches of strong play throughout the contest, often taking control of the game but failing to make an impact on the scoreboard.
Conversely, St Kilda seemed lethal whenever attacking, and Hope was ably supported by Tamara Hyett who bagged three goals to share the scoring load.
Hope’s four goals took her season tally to 23, cementing her position as the VFL Women’s leading goal kicker, and earning the praises of coach Shaun Smith who labeled her “the best in the land.”
Smith was quick to highlight the importance of a strong siren-to-siren performance, describing game long consistency as the key to the Sharks success.
“The games we have lost we have been in the mix to win, to lose those two games was hard. But to play four quarters today, that was the difference. Last week we only played three, so we were really happy with the four quarter effort.”
St Kilda face off against table toppers Melbourne University in Round 6 in a VFL double header at North Port Oval, while Diamond Creek will play Seaford.
Devils move to third
The Eastern Devils continued their 2016 development with a 41-point win over a gritty Seaford outfit at Mulgrave Reserve.
The Tigers closed to within a point at the start of the third quarter, but the Devils stormed home kicking seven of the last eight goals of the game to win 12.11 83 to 6.6 42, as Callum O’Connor reports.
The Devils were outplayed by a fierce Seaford midfield early in the game, making up for their lack of experience with sheer determination. Danielle Lawrence, Kim Webb and Lana Bonnet had Seaford on top in the clearances while pocket-rocket Sarah Hosking was uncontainable in defence. The Devils were left to depend on the cool head of champion defender Meg Hutchins to curb scoring for much of the quarter and eventually converted thanks to the smart judgment of key forwards Sarah D’Arcy and Sarah Perkins.
Trailing by 20 points six minutes into the second quarter, Seaford needed a boost and it came from ruckman Kate Gillespie-Jones who worked her way into the contest. Winning in the ruck and providing tremendous run around the ground, Gillespie-Jones engineered goals to Lawrence and full-forward Emma Hall to bridge the gap. When Hall kicked her second from a set shot, the Tigers had bridged the half-time gap to just eight points and had all the running.
When Gillespie-Jones roosted her first goal through early in the third quarter, it looked as if Seaford were in the box seat to claim the lead and overrun the home side. However, the Devils regrouped to turn the tide of the match with some incredible football. Jaimee Lambert, Sophie Casey, Jessica Foster and Pepa Randall increased their workrate, aided by contributions from Jess Trend, Lauren Tesoriero, Tahni Nestor and Samantha McGeoch. Defying the difficult conditions and Seaford’s pressure, the Eastern Devils took the match by the throat in a ten-minute burst that saw them kick four goals and take a 25-point lead at the final break.
Arguably the most important of the Devils’ third-quarter improvers was Abbey Tanner. Moved into the ruck when Gillespie-Jones was threatening to tear the game apart, she gradually got on top and sparked the Devils’ rise in clearances. The Devils piled on another three final term goals to jump into the top four.
With his team now sitting with a 4-1 record, Eastern Devils’ coach Brendan Major was excited about how his side is cohesively developing.
“We’ve got such fantastic depth, selection is a great headache every Thursday night,” said Major.
“All I told them at three quarter time was to wake up. Seaford were playing well, and they’re very well coached, no mistaking that, so we had to respect that. And the girls responded.”
For Seaford coach Brett Alexander, every match has been a step forward.
“Every week, we’re improving and coming together really well,” says Alexander.
“I put it down to our experience that we fell away after half-time, maybe some structural mistakes.”
Eastern Devils now face the litmus test of Darebin this week while Seaford will host Diamond Creek.
In other Round 5 games:
Melbourne Uni submitted another clinical performance to continue its unbeaten start to the season, defeating Geelong by 70 points - Laura Stevens among the best for the winners.
Cranbourne recorded its first win of the season against Knox, with Kirsten McLeod kicking four goals in a 76-point win.
Round 5 results
Darebin 11.14 (80) d VU Western Spurs 4.6 (30)
St Kilda 11.5 (71) d Diamond Creek 2.9 (21)
Melbourne Uni 11.13 (79) d Geelong 1.3 (9)
Eastern Devils 12.1 (83) d Seaford 6.6 (42)
Cranbourne 13.12 (90) d Knox 2.2 (14)
CLICK HERE for full Round 5 best players and goal kickers
This weekend Round 6 will feature three VFL/VFL Women’s double header clashes, with Geelong vs Knox live video streamed via vfl.com.au from 3:45pm Saturday.
Round 6 fixture
Saturday
Geelong v Knox (Simonds Stadium)*
Cranbourne v VU Western Spurs
St Kilda v Melbourne Uni (North Port Oval)*
Sunday
Darebin v Eastern Devils (Piranha Park)*
Seaford v Diamond Creek
*VFL/VFL Women’s double headers
Photo: Cameron Grimes
Last Modified on 10/05/2016 17:28