Whitefriars v De La Salle

Match Report

A frosty morning greeted the guns at Whitefriars College as we took on the top side, Whitefriars.

Despite a challenging couple of weeks against quality opponents, the guns came out with defensive intent and a super positive attitude, setting the tone for the day. With the slippery conditions making ball handling difficult, the guns followed pre game instructions to push the ball forward in any way they could, and when the ball was in our opponents hands to ensure we put maximum pressure on the ball carrier.

As the quarter time siren sounded, we trailed by 11 points, but were confident that we were playing a way that could challenge the opposition. This continued into the second quarter, as the conditions begun to improve, we started to get some more flowing play into our game and giving ourselves some looks inside 50 whilst also defending incredibly hard and conceding only 3 shots on goal for the quarter thanks to incredibly resolute defence, led by our self proclaimed veterans group of Captain Grace McDonell, Vice Captain Michelle Bourke and Rosie Sheppard. These three led the way and their teammates around them followed, the pressure became infectious and created a super positive vibe within the group at half time.

The third quarter saw us produce some of the most exciting footy we have played for the season. The best footy started in the middle of the ground, Emma Carson playing in the ruck was giving our midfielders our best chance. Poppy Palma led the way through the entire game, dominating around the ball and then getting the ball on the outside and running into open space, allowing the ball to move with speed and get deeper entries inside our forward 50. Coops managed to put through a goal at the goal line, which gave the Guns a real lift in energy and encouragement that what they were doing was working.

Following Coops’ goal, we continued to play with that same enthusiasm and speed, allowing additional inside 50s, one brilliant play seeing Peddles into open space with a long kick towards the hot spot and Lucy Papp kicked herself a goal, which saw us win our first quarter of the season.

The three quarter time huddle saw plenty of guns smiles and positivity about what they had done, and what they had proven to themselves to be capable of. Unfortunately we couldn’t quite keep that rolling into the last quarter as whitefriars got on top in the final 10 minutes to kick away and win the game.

However, this team is learning quickly, having fun in doing what they are doing, and are showing many signs of improvement. The commitment that they have shown to training and games has been absolutely phenomenal and if this continues they will reap the benefits in the coming weeks.

We don’t know what the coming weeks has in store, but we cant wait to see what is possible with this group as they continue to learn and grow together.