SANFLW Match Wrap | Round 8

The sun certainly shines brighter after a long-awaited win, and the best way to do it in footy is to kick a goal to win the game after the siren sounds.

Round 8 was a special occasion for us as we celebrated the 100th SANFLW game for the Glenelg Football Club and had many past players of the club in attendance. Thank you to our past players for taking the time to support us. It’s an important lesson for our group about the hard work many players have done to pave the way.

We did not play with required intensity throughout the first quarter and allowed Centrals to kick two quick goals. We were wasteful with the footy in hand and didn’t control possession.

Our group is resilient, and this was on display as we reset at quarter time. From that moment onwards we dominated in tackles, pressure acts, clearances and possession. Better use inside forward 50 allowed us to hit up Charlotte O’Sullivan on the lead, where she scored her first League goal. Shortly after, quick hands out of stoppage by Asha Dufour, Madisyn Freeman and Sam Franson led to a deep entry, where Kaitey Whittaker was waiting to run into goal. Whittaker kicked another goal shortly before half time to put us right back into the contest.

Our run and carry from the backline was really pleasing throughout the 3rd quarter and we scored two goals from quick transition through Jess Bates (24 disposals, 14 tackles, one goal) and Asha Dufour (20 disposals, 6 tackles, 1 goal). Our clearance work was significantly improved from previous weeks (31-17) and this included a cameo from Marie Martino playing closer to stoppage and collecting 8 of her own.

We talk about making our moments count, and what was most pleasing was our group’s ability to fight to win despite Centrals kicking two quick goals to put themselves 2 goals up late in the final quarter. We never gave in, and continued to drive ourselves forward through individual efforts and contest wins all over the ground.

With 4 minutes left on the clock, Matilda Wilmore provided the quick goal assist to Georgie Fielder and we were within 3 points. With 20 seconds left on the clock, we had a stoppage just at the top of our F50. Chloe Harding connected beautifully with a tap to Fielder, who found Freeman on the outside, kicking long to Kaitey Whittaker, who marked 20m directly out from goal. The siren sounded and the rest was history.

It was great reward for effort, but we have quickly turned our focus to West Adelaide who we host at home at 4:55pm on Saturday, directly following the Men’s League game.

GFCW Best: Asha Dufour, Jess Bates, Georgie Fielder, Sam Franson, Kaitey Whittaker