Round 10 Womens Reserves Wrap Up

With a week off due to Covid lockdowns, our Reserves returned to Provident Financial Oval to take on our closest neighbour Subiaco.

The much-anticipated return of Teal Bennett from an knee injury would bolster the run of the Falcons, along with the inclusion of Mahli Turland, Elissa Price, Tarzara Kelly and the youngest player on the day Emma Lilford.

The first quarter was relatively even with both sides keen to get back to winning form, Falcons midfield were getting the early clearances thanks to the high leaping Cameron Dawson, which Kristen Jayasuria and Tia Bergin were taking full advantage of.

Subiaco was forced to defend in numbers and it did prevent West Perth from creating any scoreboard pressure, but the signs were there. 

The second quarter the Falcons freed up space and allowed the likes of Zoe Panagopoulos, Amy Montgomery and Elissa Price to open up the game more and Chloe Metcalf was providing a great target up forward, and while she may have only kicked one goal for the game, it was Chloe accuracy on passes into the other forwards that created many others to capitalize.

Kayleigh Whitehead was certainly proving dangerous in the forward line and her two goals came from some clever opportunistic work.

Elissa Price and Mahli Turland were combining well and both celebrated goals.

Team Captain and milestone player Trish Medwin did her usual job of marshalling the troops and leading by example with her tenacity towards the opposition ball carriers. Trish was very ably assisted by the dependable duo of Alison Blanchard and Dixie Corcoran who were doing the heavy work with some bone crunching tackles and spoils, which kept Subiaco to a solitary goal for the game. Tia Smith’s move to defence also worked well as she marked strongly and rebounded any real attempt from the lions to get inside 50 to score.

Ilah Lennon’s second and third efforts, which resulted in plenty of stoppages and turnovers, was her best game for the Falcons and caught the eye of the coaches.

While Teal Bennett’s customary run did prove very effective and earned her the players’ respect and award.

In the end West Perth prevailed comfortably 6.6 (42) to 1.7 (13) and the two milestone players Trish Medwin and Dixie Corcoran were able to celebrate their achievements singing the song loud and proud after a much needed win. The Falcons now sit just one game out of the Top 4 and have the chance to knock off Claremont next week and draw level with them for that all important 4^thspot.