Goodlife Round 3 Women’s Match Report V Glenelg

A year almost to the day since our inaugural win against Glenelg in Round 4 2020, we were again set to take on the Bays chasing our first win of the year. The day brought with it unique challenges in our summer season, with tumultuous winds and unrelenting rain – in other words, real ‘footy footy’ weather. Our women were well prepared for this, having spent a night in the rain on Wednesday working on tackling under the tutelage of Kelly Rourke from NRL SA, a dual national representative player for Great Britain in both Rugby Union and League.

The first quarter brought what one would expect on such a day, with big hits a plenty and both teams looking to get on top in meters gained. Glenelg peppered the goals early but were unable to capitalize, with the Eagles defenders standing strong led by Nicole Collie, Zahn Anthony and Kylie Green.

 The second saw us work into the wet weather and get more control of the footy. Shineah Goody and Stephanie Walker started to get on top in clearances and fifteen year old Chloe Whiting-Charity showed great hands and grit in the wet, putting in three efforts in a row and finishing with off a nice assist from Kiana Lee to give us the first major of the game. Glenelg were quick to respond with one of their own keeping the scores tight. We headed into half time trailing by 3 points.

A more experienced side, Glenelg played the premiership quarter well. They hit the contest hard and generated scoring shots but again our defence held, Megan Andresan putting her body on the line in the middle to hold off a strong Glenelg attack. Jamie Parish made an impact for us in the midfield and although unable to score ourselves, we were able to hold them to only 2 points for the quarter.  

To our credit we were able to bounce back in the fourth. Trailing by 5 points, Kiana Lee nailed a set shot after a run-down tackle to put us in the lead. Tash Holmes ran hard throughout the quarter, gaining us valuable metres in the wet. Amie Blanden almost added another but it fell short. Steph Walker was in an under all quarter and was integral in allowing us to hold on to the football and the lead. Glenelg pushed hard but the defence held them scoreless until the final siren where we finished 3 points ahead.

Tess Baxter
Women’s Senior Coach