Top Four dominate as teams return fresh off the bye

Annie Ireland

After a well-deserved week off, Round 9 saw the top four teams in Kew, Old Scotch, St Kevin’s and Collegians all start the second half of the season with strong cases for a tilt at the premiership.

Kew and Collegians put on the most dominant performance of the four, with Kew beating Melbourne Uni Women’s by 13 points and the purple army defeating Fitzroy by 21 points.

Kew were on the back foot for the first three quarters of the game, as Melbourne Uni Women’s took a two point lead into the final change. However, Kew’s 2.3 in the last quarter and ability to keep Uni scoreless got them over the line and proved how dangerous they really are when going inside 50.

Jessica Burger’s goal saw her inside the best players, whilst Amelia Dawborn was Kew’s best. Nell Washington was Melbourne Uni’s best, whilst Eve Sheehan and Emma Steel were their goal scorers.

Kew will have a bye next weekend, whilst Melbourne Uni has an evenly matched game against Coburg.

The Purple Army’s strong showing over Fitzroy places them in fourth on the ladder, two games clear of West Brunswick. Collegians were on the front foot for the entire game, keeping Fitzroy to two goals for the entirety of the game. Had their scoring been more accurate, the margin may have been a much bigger deficit.

Robyn Randell kicked both of Fitzroy’s goals to be one of their best, whilst Collegians had five different goal scorers, with Jenna Colwell their best.

Collegians host Grammarians next weekend, whilst Fitzroy will host West Brunswick.

West Brunswick only went down to St Kevin’s by eight points, and it was a lot more evenly matched than most would have anticipated. SKOB did not have their kicking boots on, with 1.5 for the first half and 2.6 to round out the game. Luckily, it was the same for the Magpies, who kicked four behinds after the first quarter.

Once again, Bree Doyle continued her run of being the best on ground for the season, making a valuable case to be named the MVP of this season. Emily Condon was another in the best, and whilst she hasn’t been named best on ground yet this season, she has not missed being named amongst the best yet and is another player piecing together an impressive season.

West Brunswick will play Fitzroy next weekend, whilst St Kevin’s will host Old Scotch in a top four showdown.

Old Scotch ran out six-point victors on Saturday, however, this was another match where both teams failed to capitalise on opportunities. Scotch did not kick a goal after quarter time, only converting points from half time onwards. It was a similar scenario for the Lions, who were scoreless in the first quarter and only scored behinds after half time as well.

In what was a low scoring affair, Lucy Morley kicked two goals for Scotch to be their only goal-kicker, whilst Stephanie Filbay scored Coburg’s only goal. Georgia Fraser-Smith was named in Scotch’s best for the third week in a row, whilst Olivia Arundel was the best. For Coburg, Teah Stepan was their best.

Next weekend, Old Scotch will travel to Righetti Oval in what will be a classic game against SKOB, whilst the Lions will host Melbourne Uni.