Box Hill earned itself a double chance now and moved within one win of a VFLW Grand Final following a nail-biting one-point victory over Essendon. Despite just one point separating the teams, the Bombers are now eliminated, while the Hawks will have at least two more matches when they face the Magpies next week.
The Hawks lead by a goal at quarter time before Essendon turned it around to hold an eight-point buffer at the main break. By the last change, the teams were level before a fourth term goal to Jessica Matin and behind to Mia Zielinski gave Box Hill the all-important seven-point buffer. Essendon responded through Christina Bernardi, but despite there being more than enough time to get over the line, neither team scored and the Hawks enjoyed a relieving victory.
Tess Cattle (21 disposals, three marks, four clearances and four inside 50s) lead all-comers, with the likes of Nat Exon and Isla Baldwin fantastic once again. Baldwin and Stasia Stevenson combined for 16 tackles in the victory, while Matilda Van Berkel was an aerial threat. For the Bombers, Lucy Thompson and El Chaston were prolific, while Ashlea Melnikas had game-highs of seven clearances and 10 tackles.
We had the three busiest players (though it was close to a six-way tie up top).
- Thompson was huge in that first half, but perhaps recalling her two misses at the end… But when your score involvements were 5 and the next best for either team was 3, and you are tied for our top disposals and inside fifties and game-top fore uncontested disposals, it’s not your fault.
- LOL at three disposals placing Mifsud ahead of four other players… the 7 tackles made the difference!
- Melnikas was the only one with more tackles (game-high 10) and her clearances (7) was also three clear of the next best for either team.
- Azzopardi started imposing herself on the game a bit more in these final two weeks: team-high 6 marks.
- Plummer had the most rebounds (4).
- Intercepts went to Chaston (7) and kid Gilcrist (6).
- Amazingly, Marnie topped frees for (3-1)
The above photo was taken for the AFL but no galleries have emerged for any of the VFLW finals.
Prince started hot, but Price slowly wore her down. Still a great season from a seriously undersized ruck.
QUARTER ONE:
- After nearly five minutes trapped in the Hawk forward half, great vision by MFord to Manfre (tidy pick-up off wet grass) to Bernardi (for a typically sneaky side-step) to SammyJ’s goal.
- Mifsud’s three disposal tally not due to (initial) opportunity: replaces Melnikas at the second C“B”A.
- 7:00 love the shepherd by Plummer and Mifsud “swooping in like a magpie in springtime"
- 8:05 oh no! Game slips away twice in two seconds: Manfre has first and only hands to the mark twenty metres out but it slips out, and then Thompson roves with a nice tap on to herself, gets goal side, and… misses. This is gonna be painful.
- Ryan and Carris-Brett both very busy, but we know this quarter is going to end like the first game at Windy Hill did: a running long goal by Carris-Brett on the siren.
- 15:40 AFLW player Madison Ibrahim (live on that, in case it never happens again!) has arguably her quietest game of the year but her repeat pressure here is good.
- 18:20 repeat team pressure and Plummer buries the Hawk. But fark off with your “VFLW line in the sand” crap, the 2022 brawl at Windy Hill is the comparison to make. Well, kinda; this one fizzles out quickly and we don’t score a double goal from it.
- 19:10 SammyJ gets drawn to the ball and that provides ACB all the space in the world to unload from 47m out. Arrrrrgh. And now commentary inform us she’s kicked just two goals this season! Get stuffed.
- Seriously, after Albrecht went out we lost that outside zip (and some inside mongrel).
QUARTER TWO
- We start this quarter with a different mix in the middle: Bernardi and Plummer break their 5 game drought to be there.
- Bernardi then heads forward; at one minute in, she tries six impossible things before noon and almost kicks a remarkable goal.
- Tia’s chase afterwards is slooooow.
- 1:15 You need to be paying attention to moments like this, where a Hawk goes to ground, jumps on the ball, and hatches it. Ump says no. They will continue to say no until 10 minutes before the end of the game… Very similar one which wasn’t paid against Orritt exactly one minute later despite the demonstrative Hawks crowd and players. And 9:25, and… it’s classic finals umpiring.
- “Mel-a-nikis”… this guy’s been calling her that all year.
- Our kick-mark game has mostly been really good in this game.
- 6:10 Bloody nice clearance by Melnikas (note the second syllable is missing) bouncing around in a pack like a pinball.
- Our forward leading in these minutes is elite elite… for a grand total of the second point by Thompson.
- 9:40 Gilcrist gets kicked while trying to smother. While she is still in pain, the Hawks clearly handball out of bounds and it is somehow not lasso-ed. Eventually the field umpire tells the boundary umpire they’re an idiot, and pays it.
- 10:15 Gilchrist comes off; the kick was to the right elbow? Looks to be in serious pain, but she will come back.
- It took more than 11 minutes, but we finally convert via Manfre.
- And two minutes later, contested mark by Manfre off a Davidge wobbler, and BANG BANG!
- Liv tries to come off, and we tell her NO, IT’S WORKING.
- Goddamn, I love me an Abbey McDonald clearance via burst and long kick.
- 14:55 Massive jumper-ripping-attempt at the stoppage by Dillon on Melnikas a metre in front of the ump. Ump says no. Ash got whiplash/a collar burn from that!
- 15:25 beastly clearance by Melnikas, fending off and running through the tackle. Thompson then breaks the next tackle as well.
- 17:50 Big spoil by Ibrahim stops a set shot from 25m out.
- P.S. The official stats are… questionable. We lay so many more tackles in this quarter than the 17 credited (many of them shared tackles).
- 19:30 Abbey-Davidge-Thompson… ball is stripped loose from sFord as she seeks to sprint into fifty, but Johnson bombs from 44m and… misses everything. Only needed a point to give us a second chance…
We’ll get to the second half in a bit… first, AFLWVFLWphotos have dropped a batch of 81 (sadly, mostly Hawks).
sFord has this year often been on the fringe of the key midfield group, but never so on the leadership front.
And there’s another 30 more focused on us.
