The GFNL match of the round turned out to be the upset of the round when a new-look Newtown & Chilwell defeated league powerhouse South Barwon 44-42 at McDonald's Reserve in the season opener.
Newtown’s defensive pressure team with accurate goaling saw it take the lead early with five unanswered goal.
It was the sort of start that stand in South Barwon coach Stacey Hoiles said cost her team the game.
“We gave them a quarter head start,”Hoiles said.
“I think they were up by 12 at one stage and that was too many to let them start off with.”
The reigning premiers made Newtown earn every bit of its two goal triumph with mid court starts Olivia Cameron and Kelsey Browne providing plenty of movement, while helping young goaler Ruby Horton close in on the Newtown lead.
“It is South Barwon’s strength that when the game gets tough they get going,” Hoiles said after the fightback.
“We’re disappointed with the loss but it’s good to see that we can come back from 12 goals down.”
Newtown co-coach Jason Woolley had nothing but praise for his team.
“You don’t beat a team like South Barwon with individual efforts,” Woolley said.
“Julia Knott really set the game up for us in goals, Danielle Higgins controlled the midcourt well and Madi Taylor had two intercepts in the final minutes – that’s what wins games.”
Woolley said despite the debut of five fresh faces, he was unsure how the game would play out.
“We’re a new team and you can’t practise that sort of intensity at training.” he said.
Co-captain Danielle Higgins said South Barwon had set the benchmark for as long as she could remember.
”We always knew they were going to be really tough.” Higgins said.
“ We just wanted to play our own game and not concentrate too much on theirs.”
Set to face many of last season’s top teams in coming weeks, the first-time GFNL coach wasn’t letting the victory go to his head: “We’ll keep taking every week as it comes.”
Newtown which finished 10th on the ladder last year, has recruited a number of new players and two new coaches.
The Geelong Advertiser last week predicted these changes could see the side climb to fourth this year.
Last Modified on 20/04/2013 06:18