By Tash Gunawardana
What a great start to women’s football it was on the weekend with round one now in the books.
We learnt a lot from the opening round in each of the divisions with some teams stepping up to the record with massive wins and a class above the rest, while other teams learnt a lot about themselves in what was either their first ever regular women’s season match or their first after a stint away from women’s football.
Premier Division:
After round one, three teams are equal top in Premier Division with Chirnside Black followed by Blackburn Black (second) and Vermont (third). There were two blowouts in the two of the three Premier women’s matches, with the last match of the round going down to the wire and Vermont prevailing to win by a point over South Croydon.
Donvale Black vs Blackburn Black:
In the first Premier Division hit out of 2021, Blackburn Black outclassed Donvale Black with a 46-point victory at Donvale Reserve.
Blackburn Black showed intent in the first term with four goals to Donvale’s one. The scoring slowed down in the second as the match tightened up, both teams scoring a goal apiece. After the main break, Blackburn were a team on a mission scoring four majors and keeping Donvale scoreless in the third term. Donvale kept up the fight in the final quarter as they won the term kicking two goals and three behinds to Blackburn’s two goals and two behinds. Blackburn Black forward duo Caitlin Bell (four goals) and Renee Johns (four goals) combined for eight goals. Meanwhile, it was tough going in the scoring department for Donvale Black with Monica Latino a shining light with two goals.
Chirnside Park Black vs Whitehorse Suns:
Chirnside kicked off their 2021 campaign where they left off in 2019 with a dominant 61-point thumping over Whitehorse Suns at Kimberley Reserve, in the Grand Final rematch. They jumped out of the blocks in the opening term with four goals to one. Chirnside Park Black continued their dominance kicking eight of the next 10 goals of the match. It was a mighty effort from Chirnside keeping Whitehorse Suns to three goals whilst they kicked 12 goals. Leah Oswald starred up forward with three goals and Bridget O’Connell was awarded the best player on the ground for Chirnside. In what was a tough day all around for the Suns, Marissa Parkhurst tried hard and was her side’s best, while Isabella Gietzmann was the only multiple goal scorer with two.
South Croydon Blue vs Vermont:
It was the perfect ending to the Premier Division round one with Vermont holding on to win by a point over South Croydon Blue in a nail-biting match under light at Cheong Park. South Croydon gained the upper hand first scoring three goals to Vermont’s one in the opening term, but from the second quarter onwards it was any teams match to win. Vermont kept South Croydon Blue scoreless in the third term, but this did not faze them as the Dogs almost pulled off the victory nailing through the only goal of the last and allowing Vermont to only register a behind. If only there was more time in the contest for to ‘girl dogs’. Vermont’s Evie Allman was stellar with three goals in a match where goals were hard to come by, while Madeline Johns was her sides best. Meanwhile, Katie Prendergast chipped in with two goals and teammate Kate McKellar was the BOG for the luckless Dogs.
Division One:
The first round of Division One women’s football taught us that the Basin means business in 2021 after they dismantled East Ringwood to the tune of 131-points. The Basin sit comfortable on top of the ladder, followed by newcomers Berwick (second), Ferntree Gully and North Ringwood in third and fourth spot respectively. Rowville had the bye.
Berwick vs SBL Wolves:
After being promoted from Deakin University Senior Women’s South Division to Division One, SBL Wolves were second rate against new team Berwick in round one going down by 30-points at Edwin Flack Reserve. For a team that was the Grand Final runner up in the South Division in 2019, they were far from their best on Saturday morning. For Berwick it was a sweet homecoming after a decade away from women’s football and they showed the rest of the competition that they fear no team in Division One. Berwick jumped out of the gates with three opening quarter goals and SBL Wolves scored a goal. The goal scored by SBL Wolves would be their only goal scored for the whole match as Berwick were solid defensively making it hard for SBL Wolves to get any flow into their game. In the forward stocks for Berwick, it was Courtney De Kroon’s day as she booted through three goals. Meanwhile for SBL Wolves, Michelle Mcilwain was the only forward to come away with a goal from their opening round clash.
North Ringwood vs Park Orchards:
It was a great match all around at Quambee Reserve for North Ringwood, as they defeated Park Orchards by 26-points in the 2019 Deakin University Senior Women’s North Division Grand Final Rematch. Following their promotion of moving two divisions to Division One, North Ringwood showed that they are well up for the challenge and belong in Division One. Park Orchard’s Isabelle Pollock presented well up forward with two goals, meanwhile Brianna Clark was adjudged best afield.
The Basin vs East Ringwood:
After 18 months off from football, you would have thought that the Basin would have taken time to kick into gear, but they did not hold back in round one against East Ringwood, as they won by a comprehensive margin of 131-points while keeping East Ringwood scoreless. It was one of those matches for the Basin where everything fell into place for them offensively and defensively. The Basin could have won by a bigger margin if it was not for their inaccurate kicking of 18 goals and 23 behinds. They well and truly showed that they had moved on after the heartbreaking grand final loss in Division One at the hands of South Croydon by four points. From the first quarter, the Basin were in attack mode with five goals and in the second they scored three goals. They continued their dominance in the third with a monster six goal term followed by four goals in the last. It was a huge day out for the Basin forwards with a trio of players including Michaela Holford-Moss, Julia Baker and Candice Carroll kicking a bag of five goals. To go along with her bag of five, Carroll was also named the best on the ground for the Basin.
Boronia Brown vs Ferntree Gully:
Ferntree Gully showed Boronia Brown that they will be no easy beat this season, starting their season off on the right note with a 32-point victory at Tormore Reserve. It was a tight opener with only one goal scored via Ferntree Gully. The second term was won by Boronia Brown, as they piled on two majors to the Eagles one to tie the scores at the main break. Boronia Brown had all of the momentum heading into the third term, but the Eagles flicked the switch nailing through four goals and eight behinds and held Boronia scoreless for the entire second half. Boronia had only two goal scorers in Meaghan McKernan and April Glare. Meanwhile, Sophie Stark contributed three goals for Ferntree Gully and three teammates pitched in a goal each. In a trying match, Boronia’s best was Alexandra McKaige and for Ferntree Gully it was Chelsea Bransden.
Division Two:
The opening round of Division Two saw two one sided matches and one close match. Following round one, three teams are equal first including Kilsyth, Ringwood and Heathmont. To open the Division Two women’s, Knox was no match for Kilsyth, Ringwood was too superior for Montrose and Heathmont were made to earn it against Surrey Park.
Kilsyth vs Knox:
After a slow start to the match from both teams, Kilsyth thumped Knox by 32-points at Pinks Reserve. Neither team were able to score a goal, with Kilsyth scoring only three behinds to Knox’s one behind. It took to the final quarter for Kilsyth to kick into gear, as they had scored only a goal and five behinds up to three quarter time. Kilsyth put Knox to the sword with three goals in the last to run out comprehensive winners. Lucy Milkeraitis starred up forward with two goals for Kilsyth and for Knox Simone Renee Notman was the best on ground.
Ringwood vs Montrose:
It was a day to remember for Ringwood, as they made light work of Montrose by 60-points at Jubilee Park. Only 15-points separated the two sides at half time, and it was any teams game until Ringwood came out all guns blazing in the second half scoring seven goals and keeping Montrose to a behind. Ringwood’s Olivia Ashcroft and Georgia Fairbairn booted three goals each and Zoe Cant put through two goals and she was also her side’s best player. Meanwhile Montrose’s two goals came from the boots off Maddison Olsen-Weston and Kayla Eslick who kicked a goal apiece.
Surrey Park vs Montrose:
What a finish it was to Division Two round one with Heathmont overcoming Surrey Park by eight points at Surrey Park Reserve. It was any teams match with Surrey Park and Heathmont only having kicked a goal each up until three quarter time and both teams trading leads throughout the match. In the final term, Heathmont put through their much needed second goal of the match to widen their gap on the scoreboard over Surrey Park and they held onto the eight-point victory. Mia Harold booted a goal for Surrey Park.
Division Three:
The opening round of Division Three saw huge wins from South Croydon Red, Chirnside Park and FairPark.
South Croydon Red vs Croydon North MLOC:
South Croydon Red would be happy with their performance on the weekend as they did it easy by 67-points over Croydon North MLOC at Cheong Park. The dominant performance from South Croydon Red highlights the solid women’s program down at the club, as South Croydon Blue also almost pulled off their round one victory. South Croydon Red’s came out strongly in the opening half with seven goals to Croydon North’s one. Croydon North simply had their work cut out for them and it did not get any easier in the second half, as South Croydon Red piled on another seven majors. It was a complete performance from South Croydon Red and Croydon North had no answers. South Croydon Red’s, Katie Shanahan would still be on a high after her dominant display up forward kicking six goals and being named her team’s best on ground. Rachael Hewitt was the only forward target producing the goods for Croydon North with two goals, while Croydon North’s best was Sally Richardson.
Donvale Green vs Blackburn Red:
It was a tight entertaining tussle at Donvale Reserve in Division Three with Blackburn Red pipping Donvale Green by three points after owning the final quarter. Blackburn Red led at every change by no more than six points except for the third quarter where Donvale Green booted through the only goal of the term to take a handy four-point lead into the last. Donvale Green headed into the final term with all of the momentum and looked like all of the ascendancy they had in the third term would continue, but Blackburn Red stood up well defensively and slotted through the only major of the last while bringing to a halt Donvale Green’s scoring. The standout forward for Blackburn Red’s was Crystal Chinn with three goals and Donvale Green’s defenders tried everything to stop her impact on the match. Donvale Green’s three goals were scored from the boot off Catherine Gevaux, Holly Mulder and Laura Calwell.
Chirnside Park vs Coldstream:
It was a Chirnside Park double in the Women’s section this weekend, with Chirnside Park gold following the lead of their Premier Division side and handing out a 62 point loss to their opponents Coldstream.
Alex Barker impressed with two majors and an appearance in the best, whilst Alice D’Arcy was unstoppable across the ground, putting out spot fires and driving the Panthers forward. It was a competition debut to forget for Coldstream, but they’ll take solace from the efforts of Nyomie Lagerwey-Allen, Baylee Eastham and Holly Delaney.
Boronia Gold vs Fair Park:
Fair Park roared to a massive 56-point victory outclassing Boronia Gold at Tormore Reserve. Fair Park were in attack mode from the onset with the only three goals of the opening quarter while they kept Boronia Gold scoreless. It took Boronia Gold to the second term to record their first and only goal of the match, due to the great defensive efforts of Fair Park. It was not only the defensive department that Fair Park was dominating in, but offensively too with nine goals. Three of the nine goals were scored by Libby Mcnay, who was also Fair Park’s best player. Boronia Gold’s, only major came via Rebecca Carpenter who along with Ali Gottliebsen were the only shining lights for Boronia in what is the very early stages for their second women’s team. Although, it was a match that Boronia would like to move on from their new team will take away a lot of learnings especially because they had 20 players with no previous football experience.