Women’s Match Wrap: Round 5

The long awaited resumption of the SANFLW saw us take on the back-to-back reigning premiers, South Adelaide, at ACH Group Stadium on Sunday.

In an exciting twist to the SANFLW resumption, AFLW players are permitted to play. This resulted in a number of highly credentialed AFLW players being named for both teams. Caitlin Gould, Eloise Jones and Ebony Marinoff returned to the Tigers, with Deni Varnhagen making her Glenelg debut.

The first three quarters was a high quality and very competitive contest, both sides going goal for goal. Every time it appeared we were starting to take control of the game, South Adelaide was able to find a way to respond. Caitlin Gould competed well in the Ruck, but with two evenly matched midfields, clean clearances were at a premium. Through the efforts of Tessa Kohn, Grace Duffy and Madi Freemen, we were able to break even and provide our forwards some good opportunities. The athleticism, marking prowess and pressure from Eloise Jones was a real standout.

In addition to the hard running Deni Varnhagen, we also had Sarah Wilton and Casey McElroy make their Glenelg debuts. McElroy is the first senior player recruited from our South East zone who has not come through our junior pathway.

Despite being up by a goal at three quarter time, unfortunately we were overrun by South Adelaide’s strong midfield in the last quarter.

While clearly not the result we expected, we did prove that our best is good enough to compete with the best teams. The challenge for us is to learn how to sustain it for four quarters.

Thank you to all the supporters who came to cheer us on. It was a great atmosphere, with the gates needing to be locked due to reaching the restricted capacity.

This week we are really looking forward to another big home game, taking on ladder leaders, the undefeated North Adelaide, at ACH Group Stadium 12pm Sunday 5th July. Another exciting challenge for us.

Glenelg 5.3 (33) defeated by South Adelaide 7.6 (48)

Goals: Ebony Marinoff (2), Eloise Jones (1), Sarah Wilton (1), Soriah Moon (1)

Best: Eloise Jones, Madi Freeman, Grace Duffy, Lauren Fisher, Tamsyn Morriss