Another week, another thriller in William Buck Premier Women’s

Rebecca Carter

For the second time in three weeks, a William Buck Premier Women’s match was decided by the last kick of the game.

This time, it was Old Trinity’s Georgia Stewart who took a strong contested mark in the goal square with 10 seconds left on the clock and her team trailing by 1 point. The siren sounded as Stewart calmly slotted the goal, handing her team their first points of the year and leaving St Mary’s Salesian as the last remaining team yet to register a win this season. After holding a narrow lead heading into half time, St Mary’s found themselves trailing by 7 points at the last break, but they were able to wrestle back momentum and hit the lead with 2 last quarter goals, before Trinity pulled off the dramatic victory. Isabella Aikman and Melissa Poulton led the T’s with their outstanding efforts, whilst Alice Angley and Nicola Burns nearly got the Saints over the line. St Mary’s will need to pick themselves up quickly as they face the top of the table and undefeated Marcellin, whilst Old Trinity might fancy themselves to cause an upset and record back-to-back victories when they come up against Old Xaverians.

It was 1^st vs 3^rd at Bulleen Park, with an undefeated Marcellin coming up against a Caulfield Grammarians outfit that had put together 5 wins in a row. Sending a message to the rest of the competition, Marcellin piled on 7 unanswered goals in the first three quarters, ultimately walking away with a very convincing 33-point win. There were no surprises for the best on the day for Caulfield, with Cheree Peters and Chelsea Fisher matching it with the Marcellin midfield. Extending her lead as leading goal kicker of the competition, Marcellin’s Cecilia Baldassarre put through 3 goals, with support from Shaylee Taylor who booted two of her own, and an impressive best on ground display from Anja Marshallsay helped the Eagles cement their spot as premiership favourites. Still a game clear in 3^rd position, Caulfield will back themselves to bounce back against Kew this week, and Marcellin head to Ferndale Park to do battle with St Mary’s Salesian.

In a match where the winner would find themselves in the final 4 at the conclusion of the round, West Brunswick put the foot down in a 48-point domination against Old Xaverians. Despite being reduced to 1 on the bench by the last term, it was a 6.1 to 1.3 second half from the Magpies which saw their dominance ultimately rewarded. They were led by the likes of the Forbes sisters (Anne and Maggie) and Amy Cater, who held her own in the ruck battle. The impressive goal kicking form of Laura Holdsworth continued, and Jessica Jones also hit the scoreboard for West Brunswick, with both players finishing with 3 goals next to their names. For the third consecutive week it was Sarah Anderson who was best for Xavs. This week, Old Xaverians will look to stay in touch with the top 4 when they come up against Old Trinity, whilst West Brunswick will be tested against SKOB Saints.

There was never more than a couple of kicks in it, but SKOB Saints led from start to finish to record an 18-point win over Kew. The Bears conceded the first 2 goals of the game and from there, were never quite able to reel in the Saints. Leading by 15 points at half time, an early third quarter goal from Lizzie Wardlaw extended the Saints lead, before the Bears dominated the remainder of the quarter and managed to put through 2 goals, both courtesy of Danielle Calautti. With the game still in the balance, a last quarter goal from Sarah Cameron sealed the game for her team. Lizzie Wardlaw’s 2 goals saw her named best afield, and strong defensive efforts from both Tayla Nichols (SKOB) and Laura Grant (Kew) meant they also feature amongst the best for their respective teams. Despite the loss, Kew, who boast a healthy percentage, only sit a game out of the top 4. St Kevins face an intriguing match up against West Brunswick this week, in what shapes as the match of the round.