Yeronga 13.7.85 defeated UQ 6.8.44
Yeronga played their best half of football so far this year to set up a 45-point lead at half time.
The Devils displayed a team-first attitude, running the ball fast, shepherding, talking and most importantly, kicking goals.
They came out firing, bagging five goals and keeping UQ scoreless in the opening term, putting all sorts of pressure on the Red Lionesses. Yeronga played the brand of football they want to play in a couple of weeks, when it really needs to count.
UQ were shell shocked, and came out looking for redemption in the second half.
They lifted their intensity and attack on the ball, and Yeronga took their foot off the pedal a little bit.
In a match that gave us a taste of finals, the Devils still managed to come away with a convincing 41-point victory.
McCarthy ran riot towards the goals, and with no one able to catch her she finished with six.
UQ will be disappointed with this loss; the Red Lionesses matching the Devils up until this round.
Final Score: Yeronga 5.2, 9.3, 11.5, 13.7 (85)
UQ 0.0, 2.0, 4.3, 6.8 (44)
Goals: Yeronga K. McCarthy 6, D. Leach 2, K. Welsh 2, J. Ransfield 2, B. De La Cruz
UQ E. Zielke 2
Best: Yeronga K. McCarthy, E. Bates, S. Virgo, E. Bliss, D. Wall, E. Allen
UQ I. Baldock, S. Webb, B. Koenen, D. Herdman, E. Pittman, E. Zielke
Ladder Review: Yeronga 2nd (12 Wins), UQ 3rd (9 Wins)
Coach’s Thoughts:
Scott Stephens, Yeronga
“It was a tale of two halves, in the first half our girls were quite dominant, we played some of the best footy we’ve played all year.”
“It was quite fast, we moved the ball quickly.”
“UQ increased their intensity in the second half and our girls matched it to a certain extent, but that pace and finesse sort of dwindled a little bit.”
“But generally it was a good solid win, you’re never going to complain about 41 point win over the team that’s sitting one below you on the ladder.”
“We were doing all the team things, we were attacking the ball and working together to get numbers around the footballs.
“All the pressure acts, like smothering, tackling, shepherding, all those little things we were doing really well.”
Coorparoo 1.1.7 defeated by Coolangatta 7.17.59
This was probably one of the most one-sided defensive games we’ve seen in the QWAFL so far this year.
For 90% of the match, the ball was locked in Coolangatta’s forward half, with Coorparoo finding it extremely hard to get the ball past the halfway line.
The Navy Roos started the match off with an extra player behind the ball. It didn’t pay off, with Coolangatta continuously getting forward 50 entries.
It was a high-pressure game; Coolangatta were spraying easy shots left-right-and-centre, yet Coorparoo had to protect the goal line.
It was congested, contested football, with hard-hitting tackling and shepherding.
Coolangatta managed to control the ball better on the outside, and used the width of Giffin Park to their advantage, finding ways around a valiant Coorparoo defensive line.
It was a close first half, but Coolangatta’s composure by foot (something they’ve worked on all year) prevailed.
Final Score: Coorparoo 0.0, 1.0, 1.1, 1.1 (7)
Coolangatta 1.6, 2.12, 5.15, 7.17 (59)
Goals: Coorparoo A. Duxfield
Coolangatta L. James 2, K. Howarth 2, J. Membrey, R. Blair, A. Hamlyn
Best: Coorparoo S. Young, B. Spence, R. Crack, C. Davis, E. Angus, S. Crew
Coolangatta S. Goodman, J. Stanton, A. Hamlyn, L. Kaslar, N. Wallace, R. Markham
Ladder Review: Coorparoo 5th (1 Win), Coolangatta 1st (12 Wins)
Coach’s Thoughts:
Daniel Selby, Coorparoo
“We were a bit flat, but other than we should some really good patches.”
“We just sustained a lot of pressure, they probably had the ball in their half for 90% of the game.”
“We just applied a lot of pressure to slow down their scoring, but we were just unable to move it out of our defensive half.”
“There was a bit in that game, a bit of feeling in that game and our girls lived off it, it was just a shame that we couldn’t reward ourselves going forward.”
“We did a lot of hard work, but we just failed to get it past our half forward flank. We kind of got bogged down, and then it came back and we would have to apply that pressure again.”
Aaron Russell, Coolangatta
“We had a lot of shots and missed a lot gettable goals, we kicked 7-17 which is not great.”
“It was good to their credit (Coorparoo), they were pretty tough, and they kept attacking the ball and tackling pretty well too.”
“We tried to control the tempo of the game, move the footy around and try and use the width of the ground to obviously spread the defence and find a way in.”
“We were pretty composed for the most part, and we were pretty happy with our ability to get numbers to the contest as well.”
“One thing we’ve tried really hard to work on is our movement by foot, we just didn’t have the skill, but now we can control the game which is something we’ve improved on this year.”
Wilston Grange 1.8.14 defeated by Zillmere 8.5.53
With some big names being rested, Zillmere continued their impressive road to the finals with a strong win over an injury-plagued Wilston Grange.
Zillmere went into the game, not with the win in mind, but rather the execution of their game plan as their first objective.
With finals just around the corner, they wanted to hone in on their ball movement and spread.
Zillmere played the ground perfectly and were clean on the outside. Wilston Grange battled hard, but was unable to penetrate the game across four full quarters; something they’ve struggled to do all season. There wasn’t a massive difference in scoring shots, but the Gorillas were unable to control their nerves in front of the goals.
Whitehead bagged three for Zillmere in the absence of Tayla Harris and Shaliese Law.
Final Score: Wilston Grange 1.2, 1.3, 1.6, 1.8 (14)
Zillmere 3.1, 5.3, 6.4, 8.5 (53)
Goals: Wilston Grange L. Dowling
Zillmere A. Whitehead 3, K. Riley, K. Guarino, P. Parker, M. Pullinger, N. Clark
Best: Wilston Grange K. Lutkins, T. Randall, E. Gerke, K. McGlade, S. Hewitt, K. Terry
Zillmere A. Gaur, B. Gaur, K. Riley, M. Pullinger, C. MacDonald, A. Anderson
Ladder Review: Wilston Grange 6th (1 Win), Zillmere 4th (7 Wins)
Coach’s Thoughts:
Marcus MacDonald-Camden, Wilston Grange
“It was a pretty good game from us, our first half was really quite, we kicked the first goal, but our communication really lacked, we just weren’t talking to each other.”
“Our second half we came out with the improvement, they only kicked two goals over us in the back end of the game.
“It’s just making sure we play consistent footy over four quarters, but we had some good passages of play where we had Zillmere really worried.
“There was a lot of positives, but there’s also a few improvements that need to be made.”
“We had ample chances, it was just that get a bit nervous in front of goals, we just need to build our confidence in front of the posts a bit more.”
Jacob Simmons-Bliss, Zillmere
“We had one clear goal going into the game, and that’s to prepare for finals footy, and specifically executing our game plan to hold up in finals footy.”
“We were a lot more deliberate with the way we wanted to play and we got the result.”
“It was very contested, they were bringing a lot physicality, but our ability to open up the play and use the width of the ground to run and carry, was how we were able to score.”
“That’s what we’re going to need to do against the better sides, if we want to win.”
“We coming up against Yeronga next week, which is a fantastic challenge and we are definitely to reproduce our performance from yesterday.”
“We want to finalise our execution of controlling the game tempo, and give ourselves the best practice going into finals.”
“We decided to rest Shaliese Law and Tayla Harris, we took it as an opportunity, as the result did not affect us playing finals.”
3 Things We Learnt:
- Kate McCarthy’s best game… ever?
Yeronga’s Kate McCarthy kicked a match high six goals as a midfielder for her side in their comprehensive victory over UQ on Saturday. Being “easily”named as best on ground by coach, Scott Stephens, McCarthy used her speed and agility to break away from defensive pressure and impress everyone watching.
“It’s probably the best game she’s ever played, she’s been building towards it,” Stephens said.
She has become one of Yeronga’s key players, in what is her second full season of AFL, and the speedster is only getting better as the year progresses.
“She’s still very much learning about the game and how her own abilities are best suited to the style of footy the team plays,” he said.
Stephens believes the difference is her commitment to her team, and her ability to never stop running. “Her work rate was fantastic yesterday, and she got the reward by kicking six goals.”
- Ex-Matilda ripping it up for Cooly
Coolangatta already has a star studded centre line-up, but it’s a first year footballer labelled by the coach as their most inform midfielder at the moment.
Jamie Stanton grew up playing soccer and was even named as an Australian Matilda, but Aaron Russell was one happy coach when the talented athlete decided to make the switch to AFL with Coolangatta her destination.
“There’s only probably two or three goals the whole season where she hasn’t been in the best six,” Russell said.
When Stanton started the season off she played across the halfback line, eventually moving to the midfield in rounds three and four.
“She plays through the middle, she’s really good in traffic, makes good decisions, and knows how to find a lot of footy,” he said.
Stanton, who is loved by her teammates has found her feet in the QWAFL this year, has solidified her position in a finals bound Coolangatta.
“She never misses a training session and always has a smile on her face… She’s got a bright future in football.”
- Zillmere can play serious football… without Tayla Harris
After breaking her nose in last week’s physical clash with Coolangatta, the Eagles decided to give their superstar a rest as they gear up for finals. It opened up a window for Zillmere’s younger and newer players to step up against Wilston Grange and they rose to the challenge.
Coach, Jacob Simmons-Bliss was proud of his side’s effort and he highlighted that it was pleasing to see the scoring load shared with eight goals being kicked by six different goal kickers.
“We realised that we don’t have a reliance on Tayla Harris, and she kicks a bag for us quite often,” he said.
Despite not being on the field, Harris was still having a massive influence over the game, giving her younger peers, who have a lot of respect for her, guidance from the sideline.
“It was really enjoyably, she had a lot to contribute to the players and it was good for her to see things from our perspective.
She was a fantastic mentor for our younger forwards and really guided them throughout the game, and we saw a result from those players immediately. She’ll definitely have a future in coaching,” he said.
By Jess Stewar
