A wet and windy Lindsay Hassett Oval awaited the Women, who made the trek for a rare 2pm start on Saturday and went down to a South Melbourne Districts side out to prove a point during their club’s Pride match.
The Animals were on the back foot early as their opponents’ ability to win the centre clearances meant their forwards were getting constant supply, despite the weather conditions dictating the other end of the ground might have been the scoring end instead. Down by four points at the first break, the Women came out in the second quarter hoping to have adapted quickly to the wind, and they had, but unfortunately weren’t able to capitalise on the scoreboard, until a textbook Paige Hill goal in the dying minutes. From an Emma Johnson long bomb inside 50, Hill expertly took possession of the ball after a ground contest, before snapping truly and being mobbed by her teammates.
The third quarter continued in a similar vein to the first half, with the weather wreaking havoc on both sides’ attempts to get their ball to the respective forward lines. The Women themselves were unable to continue the momentum they’d arguably wrested back before the half-time siren as South Melbourne managed to get another major on the board to take their buffer to 11 points at the final break.
The Animals’ pressure on the ball increased in the fourth quarter, but starting the game with just one on the bench and a few injuries to players throughout the day meant they struggled to get moving with speed. A final-term goal to South Melbourne let the proverbial wind out of the Women’s sails, ultimately going down by 18 points.
The midfield brigade of Clover Hart, Jas Ardern, Elli Haylock, Maddy Mazar, Lilli Fogarty and Johnson were the side’s top six best in the hard-fought loss.
At this stage of the year, with four win, six losses, and a percentage of 70.38%, the Women are sitting fifth on the ladder.
WP 1.3.9
SMD 4.3.27