By Daniel Atamian
Our VAFA women’s development side took part in their first ever VAFA finals after finishing their Premier Division Reserves campaign in 3rd place for a chance to play 4th placed Collegians at Piranha Park.
From the opening bounce Collegians seemed to show that they would not go down without a fight as they would win the tap, Coburg would gain the upper hand and try to advance the ball to their advantage, however an intercept mark by Collegians would prove to be costly for the “Burgers” as Collegians was able to advance the ball into their forward line for a set shot on goal and convert to open the scoring in the game. Sensing the need to respond back, Coburg was able to win the next ruck tap and get the ball into their forward 50, Collegians defenders would not allow the Lions get by so easily as they were able to get awarded for a holding the ball turn over. Coburg tried to clean up their game play and keep possession of the ball as it appeared to be stuck in their attacking 50. Annalise Vine was able to scoop up a loose ball and slot it though for the Lions first major to level the scores, Coburg now finding their feet started spreading the ground well, managing to outplay Collegians overhead, plucking marks to work it back to their attacking 50, Collegians try to advance the ball but Coburg manages to counter, narrowly missing for a minor score. As the Lions pressure began picking up Collegians try to advance the ball on a break for another goal, however the ball is swooped on by Ella Menzies and cleared from the danger zone, not backing down from the challenge Collegians looked to respond to Coburg’s intensity around the ball. The Burgers however found a way to claw their way to a second goal as a chaos ball on the ground gets kicked through like a soccer ball by Vine for her second, Collegians manage to repel the Lions continual attack, until a last minute roll the dice for one more goal via a ball deep into Coburg’s attacking 50 saw Ruby Taranto collect a spilled ball off the ground and turned into her 1st major of the game.
Collegians would come out firing for the 2nd quarter, yet the Burgs defenders stood tall repelling their attack managing to advance the ball through to their attacking half for Emily Balaburov to capitalise on and score a major to advance the Lions lead. Coburg’s team defense restricted Collegians ability to find room for ball movement to go forward and when they did manage to get into their attacking 50 the ball was stuck for continuous ball ups until the Lions were able to break the line and get the ball out of Collegians 50. The game came to a halt after a Collegians player went down with a knee injury delaying the play, once the action recommenced the Burgers continued to apply their pressure to nullify the game once more as Collegians looked to score once more time before the major break, but were ultimately beaten by the siren.
Entering the second half, the Lions came out humming, picking up where they left off in the first half not letting Collegians get the upper hand as they work the ball through the middle into the hands of Julia McArdle who scored a goal on the run to draw first blood to open the scoring in the third. Coburg would begin to push the tempo as looked to take advantage of their momentum build, successfully advancing the ball forward again, but only manage a minor. The Lions forward pressure began to pick up putting the Collegians defenders under pressure as they tried to move forward to no avail as the Burgers refused to let the ball see sunlight. Coburg’s missed opportunities count would also continue to build after missing a free kick from the boundary, saving face by intercepting a Collegians attempt to advance their attack. Though successful in intercepting it would prove to give the Lions little reward as they continued to only manage minor scores once again, the ball would be stuck in the Lions attacking 50 for the back end of the quarter as both sides would go back and forth in a rally of kicks from intercept marking until the siren.
In the final quarter it would be Collegians coming out hungrier of the two sides as they looked to dictated the game play early to wrestle back the lead, however Coburg’s defenders were not letting up refusing to let the Collegian forwards to get a sniff of the ball as the gameplay would soon begin to slow down as both teams appeared to be tiring, made evident by the dead ball in the middle of the ground. The Burgers would find a way to advance the ball forward managing to get it into the hands of Mia D’Agostino for the first of the final quarter, Ruby Taranto would follow suit as she continued to step up and scored her second showing out with her goal kicking prowess as she marked anything that got delivered into the square. The Burgers fire power would continue to spread throughout their forwards like a wild fire as Balaburov scored her second to further push out the Lions lead. Coburg utility; Alana Wenban, would follow suit as she would hit the score board with a goal of her own after being award a free kick for a rundown tackle. Collegians would manage to muster up their second goal for the game on the run as they were able to break through the Lions defensive lines after getting the ball into their attacking 50. Coburg would look for a quick response for Collegians goal as they manage to switch the ball across the park with ease, managing to rebound off a Collegians attack as they look to hit the scoreboard once more before the final siren as Annalise Vine would answer the call as she kicked the final goal of the game off the ground; as she did earlier in the first quarter for the final nail in the coffin to book Coburg it’s spot into a Preliminary final.
SCORES
COB: 3.2.20 | 4.4.28 | 5.6.36 | 10.8. (68)
COL: 1.0.6 | 1.0.6 | 1.0.6 | 2.0.(12)
GOALS
(3) A. Vine, (2) E. Balaburov, R. Taranto, (1) M. D’Agostino, J. McArdle & A. Wenban
Catch more Lions action on Sunday at Trevor Barker Oval as we take on West Brunswick at 1:20pm.
#WeAreCoburg #LionMode
