On a windy (that's a gentle understatement) Sunday at the historic Williamstown Cricket Ground, Monash Blues' history was made as our Women's Reserves team played four quarters of hard-fought football to win our Club's first ever Premiership in Women's football.
The first quarter saw us kicking into the howling wind. Our players did all they could to bottle the Lions' offence into the dead pocket, a strategy which worked well and restricted Collegians to just six points until a goal just before the siren appeared to give our opponents a spark.
QT Monash 0.0 v Collegians 1.6.
Monash approached the second term under Coach Hendo's instruction to use the corridor and top side as much as possible when heading into attack. Great goals from Sancia and our Captain Molly Mc brought us right back into the match on the scoreboard and we took the narrowest possible lead into the main break.
HT Monash 2.1 v Collegians 1.6.
The Lions did everything they could to try and attack through the centre of the ground whilst the Ashes once more aimed to bottle them up on the grandstand side of the ground. The opposition supporters found their voice with a Lions' goal but our women stayed strong, restricting the deficit to just one straight kick.
3QT Monash 2.1 v Collegians 2.7.
Final quarter moments. Jacqui's goal after a frantic goal-square scramble followed by the roar of the wonderful Monash crowd. The siren after our defence clears the football after numerous Lions' attacks into the gale. Ashes' exhilaration! Collegians fought valiantly in an attempt to regain the lead once we edged ahead but our team would not be denied with every player giving their all to hold on for us to claim the Flag.
FT Monash Premiership Cup! Off to the Stingo to celebrate!
Commencing with an exhibition match in 2016 before our first season in the VAFA in 2017, our Women's football programme has quickly become an important and vibrant part of our Football Club. Last Sunday's victory was fitting reward not just for the Premiership winning players and coaches but also for all of those whose tireless efforts over these recent years have built this programme to where it is today.
Our sincere thanks to our wonderful sponsors - Fulton Hogan, the Yorkshire Stingo Hotel and Monash University; to everyone who played with us - Seniors and Ressies - throughout the season - without each of you we wouldn't have made it to the GF; to Muncha and Hendo - your tireless work keeps us striving to be our best; to Carry, Statsy, Brad and the committee; to Em for delivering the coach's messages every match; to our trainers, physios and S&C staff; to Jimmy for time-keeping and running the scoreboard; to everyone who umpired, ran the boundary, goal umpired, ran water to the players; assisted the official umpires; to our family, friends, supporters and clubmates who turned out to cheer us on... thank you all!
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Monash Blues 3.3.21 defeated Collegians 2.7.19 |
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Coach |
Nick Henderson |
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| B: | Katie Tunley | Allison Rankin | Eliza Millen |
| HB: | Stephanie Murphy | Kelly Ferguson | Saskia Dekker |
| C | Octavia Thompson | Caitlin Williams | Claire Paulet |
| HF | Jessica Demeo | Jacqui Greer | Amy Kirby |
| F | Molly McFarlane (c) | Sancia Bingham | Jacinta Kimberley |
| Ruck | Clare Jackson | Molly Ewens (vc) | Natasha Newman |
| I/C: | Alice Peddle | Amaya Postlethwaite | Emily Woods |
| India Marshall | Hannah DeBuhr | Josie Gallagher | |
| Emer.: | Vanessa Calcinotto | Jess Bennett | Skye Blackshaw |
| Goals | Bingham, McFarlane, Greer | ||
| Best | Dekker, Greer, O. Thompson, Kimberley, Bingham, Millen | ||
| Date | Sunday 14 August 2022 | ||
| Venue | Downer Oval, Williamstown | ||
