Recap: AFL U18 Youth Girls Championships
By Bronte Kerr
NSW/ACT put together a tremendous week of football, beating the Woomeras by 14 points last Monday and the Thunder Devils by 20 points last Thursday.
NSW/ACT opened their week with a gutsy and well-earned win over the Woomeras in the opening game of the Championships on Monday the 4th of May.
The game was a tight contest for the first three stanzas of the game, before NSW/ACT pulled away from their opponents in the final quarter to record a 14 point win.
A strong second quarter performance from NSW/ACT rendered the Woomeras scoreless, however this was short lived, with the Woomeras recovering from a 15 point deficit in the third quarter to reduce the margin to one goal before the last term.
NSW/ACT continued their strong campaign when they secured a 20 point victory over the Thunder Devils on Day 3 of the championships.
Despite kicking the first goal of the game in the early minutes of the game, the Thunder Devils were held to just two goals when the final siren sounded.
NSW/ACT went on to kick five of the last six goals of the game to record a 5.6(36) to 2.4(16) win.
NSW/ACT had five multiple goal kickers for the game; Jasmine Mandy, Blaise Miller-Hill, Ruby Stewart, Teigan Hawke and Haneen Zreika.
The result was testament to NSW/ACT’S resilience and maturity, after the side suffered a disappointing 77- point loss to South Australia last Tuesday.
Having won two of their three games of the week, NSW/ACT qualified for the Division 2 grand final, playing against the undefeated South Australian Croweaters on Friday.
The NSW/ACT side demonstrated great determination and grit, however on the day lost to a highly skilled and strong SA side.
The Croweaters came out with all guns blazing, kicking the opening four goals of the match in the first 13 minutes.
Despite the rocky start, NSW/ACT fought hard to get back into the contest, narrowing the margin to 20 points in the early stages of the third stanza.
NSW/ACT matched the pressure of their skilled opponents for the majority of the game, however the game was a classic story of too little too late for the side, who were unable to recover from the scoreboard damage done in the opening quarter.
Sasa Barnes slotted two of NSW/ ACT’s three goals for the game, with Blaise Miller-Hill booting the other.
Jodie Hicks, Angela Prftis, Amber Allen, Phillipa Clegg and Teigan Hawke were amongst NSW/ACT’s best.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA 4.2 5.2 8.4 9.4 (58)
NSW/ACT 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.2 (20)
Female Programs Manager Libby Sadler spoke highly of the girls and their performances throughout the week.
“The girls are to be commended on their performances both on and off the park this week, having shown all involved how rapidly they are developing as not as only footballers but wonderful young people,” she said.
“The future of football and most certainly female football is looking very bright in our region with these fine young people leading the charge.”
