Mothers Day, the sun was shining and it took an hour to find a carpark but the girls were ready to go none the less.
Josh’s instructions were clear, lets get a fast start, show lots of energy, keep the pressure on the ball, have fun and make Rovers the best place to be! We welcomed two new players in Maddie and Tess. Nadia was named Captain and we were ready to go, except one small problem, our umpire was still trying to find a carpark!!! Nice one Justin… we were rescued moments before the siren and in he strutted, whistle in hand!
As Nadia led the girls out we noticed that Caulfield ladies appeared very tall and looked quite experienced and we soon discovered that those first observations were very accurate.
Caulfield won the first tap out which quickly conceded into a goal which was celebrated with a series of cartwheels. These girls were a tight unit that were going to be tough to beat. The Rovers girls seemed totally undeterred and worked hard at tackling and applying pressure everywhere around the ball. Some extraordinary efforts from Abbey and Matilda. Nadia, Jess and Juliet showed some excellent pace, Lily took a couple of fabulous marks overhead, but sadly we witnessed far too many cartwheels!
The girls came out firing in the second quarter, the intensity lifted as Bianca took a strong mark in the centre and newcomer Maddie took a great mark stopping another Bears goal and more cartwheels! Highlight of the quarter was a wonderful passage of play where LilyMac got the tap out down to Matilda on the run who centred the ball to Ava, over to Nadia and GOAL! A great team effort girls, this was great footy! Team Manager Kylie celebrated with a sausage roll and can of Fanta, who needs a fancy Mother’s Day lunch!
Half time address Josh’s words were simple, just keep leading for the ball, keep the pressure on and have fun! It was a strong start but the Caulfield girls showed their expertise and continued to stretch the lead. Some great efforts from Amelia, Emma, Viv, Sienna and Jess. We may not have been able to trouble the scorers but fun was being had, especially in the backline as Liv, Lily and Lola began wrestling each other, and Juliet and Matilda started doing cartwheels when Caulfield missed shots! Oh well, if you can’t beat em, join em!
The final siren sounded, the ladies shook hands and we headed for the rooms for a quick debrief. Matilda was awarded best player from the opposition coach but she was far more concerned with a finger that was stepped on in the final few minutes of the game. Umpire Justin was very keen to pass on his knowledge and had a quick chat to the girls about learning to kick into space rather than packs. I think the girls understood??? Josh congratulated the girls on a great effort all round, they didn’t give up, they kept the pressure on and each quarter we played was better than the one before. Awards were given to Jess, Nadia, Tess and Maddie, who was most likely best on ground, not bad for a debut game.
This game proved that Divvy 2 is going to be a little more of a challenge and we are going to go up against some slick opposition but we are a good team that is only going to get better each week. Looking forward to next week when we take on the Murrumbeena Lionesses at home.
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