Round 4 Womens Reserves Wrap Up

Joe Exotic may be imprisoned for 22 years but he isn’t the worst crime against tigers. That honour goes to our Women’s Reserves team who claimed a Round 4 victory against reigning premiers, Claremont. After de-clawing the Lions by 39 points the previous week, our Reserves turned the Tigers into copy cats, defeating them by 11 points.

We hit the big sticks with the first centre clearance of the game. Chelsea Doolan ran onto the loose ball in the goal square and curved smoothly around a pack of defenders like she was applying the perfect cat-eye eyeliner, before flicking it off her boot for a goal. From there the Tigers found their paws and began peppering the goals. Fortunately, our backline’s intensive pressure ensured little reward for Claremont’s efforts.

The Tigers came out in the second quarter determined to improve their accuracy, but our backline foiled their plans. Defensive stalwarts Trish Medwin and Amy Montgomery marshalled the backline out of every skirmish, with Claremont’s irritation showing in each snarl and swipe. Medwin and Montgomery were ably supported by the epoxy-like hands of Tiahna Scandrett and graphene-coated boot of Jaymee Duke. Alison Blanchard also provided invaluable support with her relentless pursuit of the ball and triple efforts. At half-time our defensive structures had restricted the Tigers to a 6-point lead.

Determined to hit the second half with a more attacking game style, changes were made to our line-up. The astute decision-making of our coaching team resulted in two more goals in the third quarter and our Reserves finally getting their beaks in front. Our first goal of the third came from a series of seamless deliveries down the wing, starting with Zoe Smith and ending with Courtney Collard. Collard ensured the supporting work of Erin O’Brien and Amy Montgomery to move the ball down the ground was rewarded with an accurate kick through the middle posts. 

The Tigers attempted the occasional forward foray in the third but Kristen Jayasuria consistently appeared whenever most needed to turn the play around to our advantage. Jayasuria was also helped by the elite tackling of Dixie Corcoran who razed through the Tigers like a dozer operator on a three-day Red Bull bender. Claremont’s frustrations were evident in a series of undisciplined plays, including but far from limited to taking Tiahna Scandrett’s legs out from under her after she swooped for another intercept mark. Fortunately, Scandrett took the questionable action in her stride like a Taylor Swift classic, she simply shook it off. Our second goal came from a 50-metre penalty with Erin O’Brien kicking truly to put the Falcons in front by 5-points going into the last quarter.

Claremont attempted to even the ledger in the fourth quarter but our players held strong, displaying the composure and tenacity of elite footballers. Newcomers Tia Bergin and Ilah Lennon rose to the challenge, taking confident marks to halt the Tigers’ surge while precious minutes still remained on the clock. The game was finally put out of Claremont’s reach when a clever kick off the deck by Courtney Collard was gathered by Chloe Metcalf, who then wheeled around for the goal and an 11-point win. This roarsome wins put our Women’s Reserves team in a strong position leading into Round 5 and this Sunday’s game against Peel.