The sun was shining and so too were the halos of many of the girls, fresh from preparing their mums breakfast in bed to celebrate Mothers’ Day.
First quarter against Bentleigh saw the majority of play deep into our defensive line and how fortunate were we that we had the tackling prowess of Kim Docking, Tayla Jones & Tessa Beech on duty. Add to that the amazing kicks on the run from Ava Hales & Lucy Grant and we contained Bentleigh to just 2 goals in what was a slightly one sided affair.
Quarter Time Score
Bentleigh 2 1 13
Hampton 0 0 0
The second quarter saw some amazing play from Caity Schwarz, Elisha Pickering and Scarlett Adams giving us plenty of drive from the half back line and midfield. Some fine teamwork resulted with the ball in the hands of Georgia Gleeson who smashed out an early goal.
Holly Moss has a pony tail flick that could take your eye out and she is always reliable with her determination and great tackling skills. Jamie Mawkes and Gabi Nicholl were taking marks and taking down opponents as if they have done it for years and Greta Robinson is fast creating a trademark move with her Super Tackles.
Half Time Score
Bentleigh 2 3 15
Hampton 1 0 6
The girls came out of the half time huddle well in the game and looking to make up the small difference on the scoreboard. Jaye Thomas in just her second game with the club was leading the charge providing a lot of drive off the half back line and was ably supported by Maegan Miller, Amelia Stewart, Sophie Lever and Jaida Ilhan in the middle. Phoebe Landy was dominating in the ruck and was working hard to get the ball into the forwards.
Our back line was under siege and outstanding efforts from Imogen Livitsanis, Jess Bowen and Eliza Planincic all up against bigger and more experienced campaigners managed to restrict Bentleigh to just 3 goals even though the ball lived in that half of the ground for most of the quarter.
3 Quarter Time Score
Bentleigh 5 535
Hampton 1 2 8
Some teams might have decided that the game was over at 3 quarter time….but not the Hampton Rovers!! Everybody doubled their efforts, the tackling led by Makenzy Taylor (the smallest player on the field) was relentless. The midfield group led by Shae Raywood, Ali Coyne, Mia Hanna and Lois Melvin harassed the opposition like possessed teenagers hunting for the last few Bruno Mars concert tickets!!
Early goals to Tayla and Shae (their first in Rover’s uniform) started a spirited comeback and it was game on. The whole team worked hard to keep the ball in our forward half and we were peppering the goals. Greta Robertson slammed one into the goal post and Lucy Grant took a great mark and her shot for goal caused a little confusion when originally called a goal by the goal umpire then overturned by the field umpire!!
Alas we could add only 4 behinds in the closing stages to get within 11 points of Bentleigh. We were certainly flying home and prevented them from scoring in the last quarter…an extra five minutes would have been very interesting.
An outstanding effort against the top of the ladder team from Bentleigh and I am sure the girls know we can turn the tables when next we meet during the season.
Final Score
Bentleigh 5 5 35
Hampton 3 6 24
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