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EDFL Women’s Preview - Week 1 Finals Edition

By Shannon Colgan


BURNSIDE HEIGHTS v HILLSIDE
Elimination Final
Saturday 10:00am at Ormond Park

HILLSIDE look to come into this game with the upper hand.

However, to discount Burnside Heights would be at their own peril. 

Last Friday night the Sharks had the edge against the Bears in wet and blustery conditions.

The Sharks had contributors all over the ground and executed their structures, with the goal keeping role of their defenders a feature.

The home team owned the Landscape Drive wing, with long kicking to target breaking the game open. 

It was a 61-point win reward for effort as they swarmed around the ball and outran their opposition.  

Fiona Pazsa played a key role in the forward line, not only kicking three goals but bringing her teammates into the play.

Carrie-Anne Lynch was named best-on, setting her team up out of the middle.

Emily Paterno continued her good form, showing her class with clean loose ball gets despite the conditions.

The Bears, however, have proven finals know-how, having made it to the 2018 Grand Final and will still have that hurt from being on the receiving end to act as an extra motivator.

Back in Round 6, the Bears also took the win by three points against the Sharks.

So, the ledger coming into their third contest of the year sits at one apiece.

Kayla Ravanello, who was quieter in Round 14, was the Bears’ leading goal kicker on that night back in May with three goals.

Brodie Stevens was the Bears’ best in Round 14, despite copping a heavy knock. 

Stevens returned to play and stood up for her team.

She was strong around the contest.

Another interesting note is that the Bears’ Round 14 team was missing some familiar faces from Round 6, with Maria Afuhaamango, their second leading goal kicker (19) for the year, on the sidelines along with Jodie-Lee Roach and Ebony Stevens.

Finals matches are often about being the best team on that given day and previous form lines can mean little.

However, after last week’s match the Sharks will have the confidence that they can win and win well, but with no second chance on offer, the Bears will be up for the fight.

Expect Annalise Wilkie, Ebony Wilkie, Kayla Ravanello and Tori Russell to be right amongst it for their respective teams.


KEILOR v SUNBURY KANGAROOS
Qualifying Final
Saturday 11:50am at Ormond Park

Where you can expect Burnside Heights and Hillside to be reasonably familiar with each other coming into this weekend, the opposite can be said for Keilor and the Sunbury Kangaroos.

Round 1 was their one and only match-up in the home-and-away season.

On that day, the scores read Keilor 2.10-22 to the Sunbury Kangaroos 2.3-15.

That is 12 scoring shots to five, but it is barely a score to read into.

Since then, Keilor have gone onto kick 113.119 for the home-and-away season.

Yet the Sunbury Kangaroos actually have had a greater number of shots for the season, they’ve just been inaccurate at 135.152.

What these statistics do show is the capacity of both teams to score.

For Keilor Lisa Kirby (24 goals), Renee Melton (11), Tanay Burbuto (eight) and Imogen Goullet (seven) have been proficient.

The Kangaroos have been led largely by Alex Quigley (36 goals from five games) as well as Kate Edney (16 goals), Regina Said (15 goals), Bronte Koutras (14 goals) and Tylah Bell (12 goals).

A look at the past month for both teams does not provide many more answers, with both having been on the other end of games called off and recording wins against lower ranked opposition.

Exactly how unsettling Craigieburn’s withdrawal in Round 14 for the Blues might be evident by their start, but they are an experienced unit, so they should be well drilled.

The Kangaroos kept an injury riddled Westmeadows at bay in Round 14.

Harmoni Chivell backed up from a strong game against cross-town rivals Sunbury Lions, to take best-on-ground honours.

Tara McKean and Olivia Cairo were also busy.

Kangaroos captain Tylah Bell and playmaker Bailee Said loom as critical factors in the match-up against Keilor and have been supported through to finals in recent weeks, so they are ready to fire.

Bell’s three goals against Westmeadows was a very handy contribution.

The class of Kallyn Gent, Sophie Freeman, Regina Said and Karla Dalisay will be on show here, as two of the competition’s talented teams go head to head.


MARIBYRNONG PARK v ROXBURGH PARK
Elimination Final
Saturday 10:00am at Leo Dineen Reserve

Maribyrnong Park, by making the finals, is one of the success stories of 2019, but they won’t be willing to let their story end here.    

Situated in a congested corridor within the EDFL heartland, the Lions have done well to build their team, rising from limited numbers to grow under the watchful eye of coach Charlie Fenech and women’s coordinator Theresa Murch, who has also pulled on the jumper this season.

The Lions haven’t looked back since their six-goal loss to ladder leaders Essendon Doutta Stars in Round 8.

Their six-week winning run began with a 19-point win against the team they will now face here Roxburgh Park.

The Magpies are one of the more experienced Division 1 teams, having been a part of the EDFL Women’s competitions from the beginning.

However, they did not make finals in 2018 and will be determined to get past their first hurdle here.

The Magpies have put together a strong month of football, with the only blip in that period coming in Round 14 against Keilor Park, as they went down by 50 points.

Both teams feature players who are at their best when bursting out of congestion.

In Round 14, Maribyrnong Park were able to control their match-up against Aberfeldie from the start. 

The Lions were able to consistently block Aberfeldie from getting the ball past the centre, positioning themselves on the defensive side of the pack and quickly turn defence into attack.

Gabrielle Mahoney controlled play and finished with two goals.

The Magpies will be mindful of trying to shut down Mahoney as she was the key to the Lions’ win in their last encounter.

Ruby Bray was also in good intercepting form, Jessa Baluyot provided a spark with run on the wing and Eliza Funston provided first use to her midfielders in the ruck.

For the Magpies, who went in without a bench against the Devils, Katelyn Birmingham and Elisha Wain battled hard.

In Round 9, it was 13 scoring shots to four in the Lions’ favour and in looking at the goal tally of both teams over the past four weeks, they yielded 34-18 respectively.

Winning the midfield battle looms as critical to the Magpies’ chances of limiting the forward 50 entries of the Lions and stopping the flow of goals.

Zoe Pedersen, Ellie Lewis and Amy Horan will be important ball winners for the Lions whereas Karina Carroll, Danielle Verity and Sarah Mazzucco will need to be on their game to turn the tables for the Magpies.


MOONEE VALLEY v KEILOR PARK
Qualifying Final
Saturday 11:50am at Leo Dineen Reserve

A three-point differential was the result in Round 7.

That is a ‘bounce of a ball’ kind of difference. 

Errant goal kicking costed the Devils the win, despite having two more shots at goal.

In looking at the ebbs and flows of both teams’ seasons, Keilor Park have had the better run of consistency, which is no fault of Moonee Valley’s, who incurred three forfeits-for.

When out on the park Moonee Valley have been impressive, although losses to Maribyrnong Park and Essendon Doutta Stars in Rounds 10 and 11 tested their resilience.

However, they proved up to the challenge, turning results back around with a win against Tullamarine before comfortably accounting for Coburg Districts and Avondale Heights.

In Round 14 against the Heights, Georgia Marsland (two goals) was able to finish off the work of teammates up the ground with Lily Bussell-Poole, Angela Trimboli and Nina Djordjevich handling the wet conditions best.

The Devils have not lost since Round 9, when the Stars also got the better of them by 26points.

A seven-goal performance by Sam German capped off their home-and-away season, leading to an emphatic 50-point win against Roxburgh Park.

Holly Bauerle, Caitlyn Simon and Ashleigh Armstead were best for the Devils in Round 14.

Keilor Park have a couple of experienced campaigners on their side with Meghan Patrick having featured for Pascoe Vale in their Under 18 finals campaign in 2018 and Cheyene Macumber having also come across from a successful Sunbury Lions Under 18 team.

The anticipation of finals is on a different level to that of the home-and-away season, as stakes are raised.

The team that can handle their nerves the best will go a long to winning. 

Neither team will take a backwards step as Chiara Imela, Caitlin Holzheimer, Erin Tarollo and Cindy-Lee Turnbull look to assert their presence for their team.

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