VFL Women's Round 5 2016 - Eastern Devils v Seaford Tigerettes
- May 8, 2016
- 3 min read
The Eastern Devils have continued their strength-to-strength 2016 development with a 41-point win over a gritty Seaford outfit in greasy conditions at Mulgrave Oval.
The Devils started slowly and found it hard to navigate their way through both the constant mizzle and the relentless Seaford pressure. It wasn’t until the Tigers closed to within a point at the start of the third quarter that the Devils kicked into action. In a superb team performance, they kicked seven of the last eight goals of the game with all of their players lifting when needed. After today, all VFL Women’s sides should be on notice that the Devils are playing with some serious firepower this season.
Whilst the Devils were well-suited to muddy conditions last week against Melbourne University, they were outplayed by a fierce Seaford midfield early in the piece this round. They may still be lacking in experience but the Tigers will take it up to just about any on-ball brigade this year in sheer determination. Danielle Lawrence, Kim Ebb and Lana Bonnet had Seaford on top in the clearances while pocket-rocket Sarah Hosking was uncontainable in defence.
The Devils were left to depend on the cool head of champion defender Meg Hutchins to curb scoring for much of the quarter and eventually converted thanks to the smart judgment of key forwards Sarah D’Arcy and Sarah Perkins.
Trailing by 20 points six minutes into the second quarter, Seaford needed a boost to get going. They finally turned their effort into goals as ruckman Kate Gillespie-Jones worked her way into the contest. Winning in the ruck and providing tremendous run around the ground, Gillespie-Jones engineered goals to Lawrence and full-forward Emma Hall to bridge the gap. When Hall kicked her second from a set shot, the Tigers had bridged the half-time gap to just eight points and had all the running.
When Gillespie-Jones roosted her first goal through early in the third quarter, it looked as if Seaford were in the box seat to claim what would have been an incredible upset victory. However, the Devils suddenly gelled as a playing unit to turn the tide of the match with some incredible football. Players who had been in the thick of it like Jaimee Lambert, Sophie Casey, Jessica Foster and Pepa Randall went to the next level, aided by contributions from Jess Trend, Lauren Tesoriero, Tahni Nestor and Samantha McGeoch. Defying the difficult conditions and the unabated Seaford pressure, the Eastern Devils took the match by the throat in a ten-minute burst that saw them kick four goals and take a 25-point lead at the final break.
Arguably the most important of the Devils’ third-quarter improvers was Abbey Tanner. Moved into the ruck when Gillespie-Jones was threatening to tear the game apart, she gradually got on top and sparked the Devils’ rise in clearances.
With his team now sitting in the top four, Eastern Devils’ coach Brendan Major was excited about how his side is cohesively developing. “We’ve got such fantastic depth, selection is a great headache every Thursday night,” said Major. “All I told them at three quarter time was to wake up. Seaford were playing well, and they’re very well coached, no mistaking that, so we had to respect that. And the girls responded.” For Seaford coach Brett Alexander, every match has been a step forward. “Every week, we’re improving and coming together really well,” says Alexander. “I put it down to our experience that we fell away after half-time, maybe some structural mistakes.”
Eastern Devils now face the litmus test of Darebin next week while Seaford will host Diamond Creek.
Eastern Devils 3.4 5.6 9.6 12.11.83 Seaford 1.1 4.4 5.5 6.6.42
Best – (E) Tanner, Lambert, Hutchins, D’Arcy, Perkins, Nestor. – (S) S Hosking, Gillespie-Jones, Thompson, Lawrence, Webb, J Hosking. Goals – (E) Lambert 3, Tesoriero 3, Perkins 3, Casey, Foster, Randall. – (S) Hall 2, Lawrence 2, Bury, Gillespie-Jones.
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