Under threatening skies and predicted foul weather, the girls assembled at DW Lucas Oval to take on East Malvern. After 2 close losses on the trot, the girls were determined to turn around the result and get back in the winner’s circle against an opponent we knew little about.
Not sure if it was a tactic of the opposition to stink out the change rooms with a dead possum but it had the desired effect of forcing the pre-game preparation outdoors.
East Malvern were missing a number of players and we agreed to share 2 of our stars each quarter to even up the numbers and ensure we played 18 on 18. A massive thanks must go to Sophie, Gabi, Caity, Amelia, Jess, Scarlett, Eliza and Lois for selflessly helping out the opposition.
In a somewhat scrappy 1st quarter, we dominated the play with the ball spending long periods of time in our forward line and our goal sneak Tayla got us on the board with 2 first quarter majors (not a bad effort from a kid who had just finished 3 hours of State Touch Football trials!!)
Quarter Time Score
East Malvern 0 0 0
Hampton 2 1 13
The second quarter continued being a scrappy encounter with the majority of the game being played between the 50 metre arcs. Somewhat of an arm wrestle with the defences on both sides proving difficult to break down. Elisha was a fabulous target up front for us and was duly rewarded with her first goal in Rovers colours….hopefully many more to come.
Solid contributions across the board from our girls with Kim, Jaida, Amelia, Tessa and Shae having plenty of the ball and tackling like there was no tomorrow.
Our defence was being well led and organised by Holly, Lucy, Jess, Immy, Jaye and Makenzy to the extent that the East Malvern side had not troubled the scorers for the half!!
Half Time Score
East Malvern 0 0 0
Hampton 3 2 20
Well the promised rains arrived at half time, and did they arrive!! It absolutely bucketed down with rain and hail for the majority of the quarter making an already scrappy game even scrappier!!
The ball was hardly off the ground and was proving to be extremely difficult to hold on to with lots of congestion all around the field.
Mia, Maegan, Hannah, Ali, Phoebe, Georgia, Sophie and Scarlett all worked hard in this quarter to keep the ball moving our way with whatever means possible.
Hardly a quarter for the highlights reel with just 2 behinds added to the scores. Looking at the below photo will give you a sense of the poor conditions!!
3 Quarter Time Score
East Malvern 0 0 0
Hampton 3 4 22
(I look forward to seeing the other photos of our girls playing in defence this quarter that resorted to a cross between aerobics, dancing, calisthenics and push-ups to stay warm!! – thankfully the ball didn’t really get down to them)
Despite the protestations of the East Malvern girls and their requests of the umpires to cancel the game, the Rovers girls were ready to finish the job. Thankfully the rain eased off and we started to get more free flowing play.
Our mid-field group had the majority of the play with Maegan and Phoebe controlling the ruck and our forward targets in the “Two E’s” (Elisha and Eliza) getting plenty of opportunity. Tayla bobbed up for her third goal of the day capping a great day out for her.
We gave up East Malvern’s first score of the day, a behind, and it was great to see our girls move the ball from the kick out into our forward line without East Malvern getting near it. Holly kicked out to Kim who marked and kicked it forward to Lois who kicked it into our forward line resulting in a behind. Fantastic skills on display by our girls.
Final Score
East Malvern 0 1 1
Hampton 4 6 30
A great effort across the board and to keep them scoreless in three quarters of footy and goalless for the entire match is simply outstanding.
Next weekend will be a different story against the girls from Mordy-Brae, a traditionally very strong junior club…..hopefully in our favour we are back on the Boss!!
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