By Mathew Asciak
The Coburg women’s teams have finished their respective home and away seasons in style, with two hard fought wins against the Caufield Grammarians this afternoon.
The Lions began brightly in the opening three minutes of the term, with the balance of play was in favour of the away side, locking the Grammarians in their defensive half. Coburg were unable to create any scoreboard pressure however, only registering a minor score as of the 7th minute mark. Skipper Natalie Todaro led from the front, getting her hands on the ball early and setting the tone for the team to follow.
The Grammarians defence held strong throughout the quarter, restricting the Lions to a meagre three behinds at the 16th minute mark of the 1st term, but were unable to generate any clear possession, as the Lions were structured well, locking the ball inside their forward 50.
Taking a 4-point lead into the second term the Lions were immediately on the backfoot from the centre bounce, looking to use the wind to their advantage in the 2nd term. Their attack fell short, with the Lions quickly re-establishing field position. Lisa Halfpenny was exceling in her new role up forward and applying great forward pressure and was rewarded with a free midway through the term but was only registered a minor score.
Chloe Perrett was at the centre of the Lions midfield, gathering a lot of the ball and supplying the forwards with opportunities create a scoring chance.
Despite dominating time in forward half, the Lions were wayward in front of goal, kicking 11 first half behinds, but took that lead into the main change.
The deadlock was broken midway through the 3rd term through Annalise Vine, with goals followed shortly after by Halfpenny and D’Agostino.
Coburg were well in front going into the final change and normal service resumed in the 4th term, as Tara Chetcuti ventured forward and put her name amongst the goal kickers, kicking the Lions’ 4th of the day.
The lead hit the 50-point mark at the 12th minute mark when Emily Balaburov kicked her first of the day as she gathered the ball completely unmarked in the goal square, assisted by D’Agostino.
Halfpenny added two more to her account late on, including a superb right foot snap that garnered a big cheer from the Coburg faithful on the sidelines. Grammarians booted their first and only goal late in the term, but the Lions prevailed by 62-points.
The Senior team had a slow start in their clash, conceding the first goal in the early stages, but settled in the game soon after. They were held scoreless in the term but were able to progress the ball forward but the Grammarians defence held firm on the last line.
Coburg started strong in the second, with the forwards getting their hands on the ball in dangerous areas. Georgia Sampson, Sheridan Bennett and Teagan Brett were doing some great work in the high half forward spaces, presenting up the ground and attacking the ball head on.
Brett broke the Lions deadlock at the 5-minute mark and started a good period of dominance for the Lions, resulting in two consecutive goals from Ruby Taranto, putting the Lions in front.
Caulfield had the wind in the 3rd and were able to keep the Lions scoreless. Only one point was scored against the wind, the Grammarians sole goal for the term brought the Coburg lead down to just two points at the final change.
Brett settled the Lions nerves early in the 4th as she slotted her 2nd, extending the Lions lead to 9 points. Caulfield were pressing and creating multiple repeat entries, but the defence of Coburg held firm, particularly in the form of Kiana Minchin, who was superb for the Lions all day, showing great defensive intent and drive off the half back flank.
The Lions
Final Score:
Development:
Caulfield Grammarians: 0.0.(0) | 0.0.(0) | 0.0.(0) |1.0. (6)
Coburg Lions: 0.4. (4) | 0.11. (11) | 3.13. (31) | 8.20. (68)
Goals: Halfpenny 3, Vine, D’Agostino, Chetcuti, Balaburov, Kotas
Best: C.Perrett, A.Vine, M.D’Agostino, M.Kotas, L.Halfpenny, T.Merrick
Seniors:
Caulfield Grammarians: 2.0. (12) | 2.0. (12) | 3.1. (19) | 3.3. (21)
Coburg Lions: 0.1. (1) | 3.3. (21) | 3.3. (21) | 4.5. (29)
Goals: Brett 2, Taranto 2
Best: K.Minchin, S.Bennett, T.Brett, S.Jolly, M.McNally, R.Taranto
