Author: David Marsh
The Macquarie University Warriors suffered a winless weekend in all Men’s Divisions in Round Five of the Sydney AFL competition but have celebrated the inaugural victory of their Women’s AFL team.
Despite being seven goals up in the third quarter, the Warrior’s Divisions One side could not hold off a fast-finishing and determined Sydney University, who kicked five goals to two in the final quarter to run over the Warriors 12.9.81 to 12.8.80 by the slenderest of margins.
Coach Lindsay Bassani admitted, “Our second half performance just wasn’t good enough. We took the foot off the pedal and in the modern game sides like Sydney Uni are going to make you pay for it”.
And the news got no better as Macquarie’s Division Three side also went down to their University rivals, suffering their fourth straight loss of the season. Assistant Coach Gavin Nixon suggested the side still had some way to go to reach the level of effort that was expected in 2011 following the 10.13.73 to 6.4.40 loss. “We had no excuses today, we simply weren’t good enough” he said.
However, the big news out of the club this round was undoubtedly the Women’s team’s first ever victory after a winless debut season in the Sydney Women’s AFL competition in 2010. Taking on the same Auburn Tigers outfit who comprehensively accounted for the Warriors just two weeks earlier in a pre-season fixture, the Warrior Women put in a spirited performance.
Leah Woldhuis lead the way in defense as the Warriors withstood a tense final few minutes against a desperate Auburn attack. But inspired by the inaugural win by the Gold Coast Suns in the national competition, the girls took a “Never Say Die” approach into their first game of the year, and came away with the four points in a 3.5.23 to 2.3.15 victory. Woldhuis described the Women’s first win as “A massive reward for all the hard work and effort the girls have put in over the past two years”.
Round 6 will see Macquarie Uni host Illawarra at University Oval in Divisions 1, Division 3 travel to Picken Oval to take on Western Suburbs, Division 4 host Penrith at home, while in Division 5, the Warriors will take on Camden at Harrington Park. The Warrior Women will take on Southern Power at home!
Last Modified on 02/05/2011 11:10