A sizable crowd gathered at North Dalton Park, Wollongong to see the future stars of tomorrow compete in the Inaugural Youth Girls AFL Competition. The undefeated Figtree Kangaroos were warm favourites going into the Grand Final against the Shellharbour Swans Would they be able to upset the favourites or would it go to plan ... only time would tell.
After a settling in period due to anticipation or nerves by both teams, the Kangaroos were dominating the midfield and setup play through Madison Giffin who dished off the footy to Jessie Mulholland kicked the ball accurately to forward April Maciejowski. April subsequently kicked the first goal. This led to ruck Sinead Bailey cleaning up her own ruck work to dish off the ball down to the forwards where after a bit of possession a handball was dished off to Jessie Mulholland on the burst and goaled on the run. Laura Henshaw distributed the ball well to the Kangaroo Forwards but they were only able to score behinds and not convert fully their opportunities.
In the second quarter Sinead Bailey scored the only goal of the quarter which had the Roos three goals ahead at half time. The coaches of both teams implored their charges for greater effort and application in the second half and it was to be the Roos that seized the opportunity with some excellent teamwork leading to Jessie Mulholland scoring a goal. Jenni Stanton kicked a goal from a pack situation in the goal square to kcik the Kangaroos 5th goal.
In the final quarter the Shellharbour Swans never admitting defeat got the ball in their forward line and finished off their opportunities with a well deserved although consolation goal. With that the siren sounded and the Figtree Kangaroos were the official inaugural champions of the Illawarra Youth Girls competition. Those who racked up lots of possession according to the Figtree Coach were: Allana Fergurson, Sinead Bailey, Stephanie Power and Laura Henshaw.
Final Score: Figtree Kangaroos 5.8.38 to Shellharbour 1.2.8. Goals Figtree: Mulholland 2, Maciejowski 1, Bailey 1, Stanton 1. Shellharbour: ? goal
The Youth Girls Competition thanks Illawarra AFL, Development staff, junior clubs officials and the efforts of Dawn Giffin who has acheived so much in such a short period of time. From humble beginnings due to two players who weren't allowed to play with the boys when they turned 15, a viable Youth Girls league of 4 teams commenced with many girls new to the game. Already two other clubs have submitted interest in fielding teams in next year's competition.
Last Modified on 07/09/2009 11:09