The Toowoomba Tigers finished the AFL Queensland Darling Downs Under 17 girls season with a thrilling 5.10 (40) to 6.3 (39) defeat of Downlands College in last Saturday’s grand final at Kratzke Oval.
After trailing all match Tigers player Christina Ash sealed the one point victory with a kick after the siren.
The win caps off a strong year for the club, losing just one game on their way to the Premiership.
Coach Cameron Diprose said he could not be prouder of his team.
“We had eight new players that had never played the game before,”he said.
“The team was a bit of a mixture. We had four under 12s come up to this grade, and they all worked well with some very experienced girls.”
“They really helped the younger girls and those that were new to the sport. I’ve been impressed with how they’ve been able to come together.”
AFL Competition Manager, Mitch Simpson, said the future of female footy in the Downs was looking bright.
“The revamped competition has been a huge success with participation growing by ten per cent this year,”he said.
“Our aim is to not only provide participation opportunities for female footballers but to establish a long-term sustainable female pathway between our junior programs and the AFL Darling Downs senior women’s competition.”
Downlands player Lauren Fraser was judged best on ground while Kaitlyn Zelinksi (Concordia) was named the competitions MVP in her first season of AFL.
Full Results:
Toowoomba 5.10-40 def Downlands 6.3-39
Grand Final Goal Kickers:
Toowoomba – C.Ash 2 , T.Diprose 1, J.Donaldson 1, C.Zirbel 1
Downlands – L.Fraser 2, A.Deng 1, E.Butcher 1, M.Bruce 1, L.Pascoe 1
