SCHOOL SPORT VICTORIA STATE QUARTER FINAL

Junior Girls Football

Our Junior Girls Football team travelled to Ballarat on Tuesday 11 August to take on Maribyrnong Sports Academy (MSA) in the School Sport Victoria State Quarter Final.

In windy and damp conditions, the girls started the contest strongly, with our midfielders getting first use of the ball and driving it forward. MSA had an incredibly strong team out on the park, cutting the ball off across half-back and enabling them to kick three first-quarter goals. Lucy Pollock and Scarlett Woodmore did their best to stop the attacking play from MSA and held up our backline well.

In the second quarter, our midfielders, led by captain Zara Grieve, started to link up with handball and get some further run-and-carry going into the breeze. Macaila Bannan and Layla Hand moved in to support the backline, and the girls did an excellent job of wrestling back the momentum in the second quarter, but were unable to hit the scoreboard. Annaleise Bergman continuously cut off the attacking play from MSA, giving our girls plenty of rebounding chances.

To the girls’ credit, the positive energy remained high, and they came out in the second half and kicked three goals in quick succession. Two goals to Lola McGrath and another to Phoebe Pederesen capped off the great teamwork up the ground against a formidable MSA team.

At the beginning of the last quarter, the girls still believed they could make a game of it, especially off the play of Perry Westley, Macaila Bannan and Layla Hand in the midfield. Stella Rooke gave us a good target on the wings and Eden Rooke battled hard in and under the packs throughout the whole contest. Unfortunately, the MSA girls were able to kick several goals with the breeze and run away with the win.

Our Junior Girls team should be incredibly proud of the hard work, effort and commitment they showed during their entire campaign. A big thank you to Etta Place, April Wainwright and Evie Gretgrix who helped out during the campaign, along with Mrs Speed for all her amazing work as our Team manager and Sports co-ordinator.

Final Score: Maribyrnong Sports Academy 8.5 (53) defeated CMCB 3.5 (23)
Goals: Lola McGrath 2, Phoebe Pedersen
Best Players: Macaila Bannan, Zara Grieve, Layla Hand, Annaleise Bergman, Eden Rogers, Perry Westley

TEAM: Mr Lee Coghlan (Coach), Millie Balic, Phoebe Pedersen, Scarlett Woodmore, Darcy Rodda, Lucy Pollock, Layla Hand, Isabel Baker, Emily Harris, Lola McGrath, Stella Rooke, Cammie Fitzgerald, Greta Pollock, April Wainwright (Helper), Etta Place (Helper), Thea Hulls, Eden Rooke, Colbie O’Bree, Zali Barry, Macaila Bannan, Zara Grieve, Florence Lapthorne, Indi Saunders, Elsie Gretgrix, Ayla Nihill, Perry Westley