By Wil Spence
The hunter becomes the hunted.
Park Orchards are the first side to book their spot in the Deakin University Division One Grand Final, after they defeated the previously unbeaten minor premiers, Rowville, 7.9(51) to 8.2(50) at H.E Parker Reserve last Saturday morning.
The Sharks kicked two goals late in the game to grab the victory, buoyed by the forward presence of Isabelle Pollock – four goals – and the classy ball use of Jorja Livingstone and Kaitlyn Rukavina further afield.
Park Orchards coach, Simon McAuliffe was pleased with his side’s resilience, after the Hawks shot out to comfortable lead early in the game.
“I think they kicked six or seven goals in a row, so for us to fight back displayed some really good resilience, to hang in there and get it back to three points at three quarter time was really important.”
The two sides are now split at one-all after three games this season, with the Hawks winning their early encounter in a gallop at Seebeck Oval, before playing out a draw on the eve of the finals.
McAuliffe says his players look forward to playing Rowville, given the quality of the contests provided so far this season.
“It’s a fierce rivalry that’s being developed having played them three times this season and if we do play them, it should be a great spectacle,
“We look forward to challenge, finals are an unpredictable game and that’s the exciting aspect.”
After starting well with two early goals, it was all Rowville for the remainder of the first half, with the Hawks dominating around the ground and on the scoreboard. The premiership quarter cliché was on full display when the Sharks gained some much-needed momentum heading into a scintillating final quarter which proved pivotal according to McAuliffe.
“We didn’t play our best footy coming into half-time, but we were able to get some momentum in the third quarter which was really pleasing,
“To Rowville’s credit, they kicked that goal at the start of the last quarter, and then had a set shot and missed and that kept the door open,
“We were on our backfoot early in the last quarter, especially our backs, so to be able to hold them off and get a kind bounce in the end was really nice.”
As Park Orchards look towards the prospect of playing either Rowville or North Ringwood, the bye will come with its pros and cons as all bye weeks do. McAuliffe is not worried about that and is excited to get the girls ready for an exciting time for the club’s history.
“The bye will freshen the girls up, there are pros and cons of the bye but like all teams, we have got used to the bye having had two this season, along with other breaks,
“We will try and hype things up next week, but be pretty low key this week, it’s just about ensuring the girls are in the right mindset.”