VFL Women's Round 16 2016 - Eastern Devils v Melbourne Uni

The Eastern Devils have sealed a finals spot in superb fashion with an astounding dismantling of Melbourne Uni at Mulgrave Reserve.

From the first bounce, the Devils attacked Melbourne Uni’s strengths and came looking to score hard and fast. All season, the Mugars’ midfield’s ability to win the ball and deliver out of the clearances has been the beginning of their victories. The Devils countered this by being first to the contest and working the ball by hand too quickly for the Mugars to follow. Sarah D’Arcy, Jaimee Lambert and Fiona Steiert swept through congestions to deliver to a top-heavy forward line; the Devils had gambled on playmaker Lauren Tesoriero running forward to capitalise on their midfield dominance and it paid off.

By the 18-minute mark of the quarter the Devils were six goals up thanks to a third major from Tesoriero, already looking too strong and too fast for the Melbourne Uni defenders to contain.

The shell-shocked Mugars worked their way into the contest in the second quarter but the Devils flooded their forward set-up to again counter their attacks.

While Maddie Keryk and second-gamer Catherine Phillips were winning the ball and orchestrating a defensive wall across the top of the fifty, the Mugars’ forwards couldn’t find an inch to lead into, let alone mark and goal. It took nearly fifteen minutes of siege before Ellie Blackburn, ruthlessly held by Devils’ tagger Jess Trend, kicked Melbourne Uni’s first of the quarter and that was quickly undone when a shocking defensive error allowed Jaimee Lambert an uncontested mark on the goal line. Lambert, dominating the clearances, caused havoc when she snuck into the forward line as the Mugars despaired over the loss of pacey defender Cecilia McIntosh.

Melbourne Uni seemed torn between sticking fast with their original game plan and adjusting to the Devils’ dominance. They were also atypically woeful going forward, with countless passes falling short and wide of targets to go with rainmakers that were too easy for the Devils’ defenders to pick off. Throw in some undisciplined errors as the frustration built and the Mugars were left with a four-quarter uphill battle.

Just as important as Trend’s blanketing of Blackburn was the match-up of dynamic Devil Pepa Randall on star Mugar winger Kaitlyn Ashmore that saw one of Melbourne Uni’s most important ball-winners dragged out of the play.

By half time, it was clear that Devils’ coach Brendan Major had masterminded a game plan that his players had almost faultlessly enacted. However, the Devils’ biggest challenge now lay between their ears: having lost three games this season by three goals or less, their nerve would surely be tested if the Mugars could bridge the gap.

While Melbourne Uni forwards Jess Anderson and Ashmore were able to find space and cut the margin to 14 points halfway through the quarter, the Mugars were unable to get purchase on the amount of time they spent with the ball in their scoring half. The move of Blackburn to the forward line was scuppered by 18-year old Devil defender Katherine Smith, who played one of the finest hours of her already stellar football career as she shut down the marquee Blackburn.

Nonetheless, the Devils needed a big three quarter time lead to shut out a Mugar comeback. When Lambert kicked her third from a rare forward entry the half time lead was restored; a freakish Alice Ryan snap from the boundary line then pushed the buffer out to five goals and even the most pessimistic Devil supporter could see the four points.

Having tired themselves out on their fruitless attacks, Melbourne Uni needed a Hail Mary to overcome three quarters of conclusive dominance. The slightest glimmer of a goal deluge came when Blackburn roosted a long major but a 25 metre penalty to Devil full-forward Sarah Perkins put the final nail in the coffin halfway through the final quarter.

Devils’ coach Brendan Major said his side had risen to the challenge of beating a top four opponent after several close

losses.

“That said, it wasn’t perfect, particularly in that second half, and while it’s good to get a win we’ve got to focus on keeping winning.”

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