MATCH OF THE ROUND
COORPAROO 13.13.91 defeated ZILLMERE 1.2.8
It’s been a tough season for Zillmere, and it didn’t get any easier on Sunday when they ran into a red hot Coorparoo outfit, who made it seven wins in a row.
The Navy Roos were missing the likes of Zielke, Young, Sammut and Cantrell this week, and on paper it seemed like the four points were well up for grabs.
Zillmere started the stronger of the two sides, dominating the centre clearances and stoppages in the first 10 minutes through some hard work in the guts from Shaliese Law.
Despite all their early pressure, the Eagles couldn’t convert on the scoreboard and Coorparoo made them pay with a quick pair of rebound goals late in the first term.
Tayla Harris dribbled through a goal just before the siren sounded to end the term, but the Navy Roos held the slight edge at the first change with a 17-point buffer.
The first five minutes of the second quarter were once again played on the Eagles terms, but then a switch flicked for Coorparoo.
Suddenly the Navy Roos had come to life, moving the football beautifully through the fringes to set up the likes of Crack, Gibson and Lee inside fifty.
The Eagles tried to work their way back into the contest, but unfortunately for Zillmere, once you give a side like Coorparoo an inch, they take a mile.
The Navy Roos played the rest of the quarter near perfect, spreading the ball across Giffin Park with ease to race to a 51-point half time lead.
Zillmere came out strong in the third quarter and tried hard to mount a fightback, but it was too little, too late for the Eagles as Coorparoo took complete control over the game.
Megan Hunt was again instrumental in the Navy Roos dominance, while Cleo Davis had a field day as a swing player.
Arnold and Crummer kicked 10-majors between them for the day as Coorparoo ran out very comfortable 83-point winners to remain second on the QWAFL ladder.
Coach’s thoughts:
Bernie Cantrell – Coorparoo
“We fully expected Zillmere to be tough and hard at the footy, so it was just a matter of persisting and keeping that pressure on the ball carrier.
“We were really struggling through the week to make up numbers, so we had some new faces today and I wish I could sign about five of them honestly.
“We rely on the 22 girls out there every week, not just one or two exceptional players, and it was really nice to see some new girls step up and show that they can pull their weight.
“I think the difference was today we played consistent footy and we were able to play tight and let the girls spread round the park, overall I was really impressed.”
Brendan Terry – Zillmere
“I was really pleased with the game endeavour, getting our heads over the ball first and how the girls came out in the third quarter, but there are negatives we do need to address.
“All in all we were pretty pleased, I think they just had more skilful players and players who were able to take control, it was as simple as that.
“All credit to them, they are a great team, but we think there are positives – our work rate was really good and the effort was there, some of our basic skills just let us down.”
WILSTON GRANGE 3.3.21 defeated by YERONGA 7.9.51
It wasn’t the prettiest of their six wins this season, but Yeronga did on Friday night what all great sides do; win ugly.
Wilston Grange weren’t expected to seriously challenge the Devils this week with the huge amount of outs on their team sheet, but the Gorillas surprised everyone, taking the fight to Yeronga.
It was a bitterly cold night down at PBI Oval on Friday and that seemed to favour the physical Gorillas side, who burst out of the blocks early with a ton of energy.
Mica Cubis, Shannon Campbell and Brie Weatherstone were the backbone off the Gorillas attack, finding ways inside fifty to trouble the Devils in the early going.
After a slow start Yeronga managed to settle and adjust to the conditions, kicking a few key goals in the second quarter to head into the sheds at the main break with a 20-point lead.
Emily Bates and was at her scintillating best for the Devils on Friday night, controlling the midfield flow to keep the ball in Yeronga’s half.
It seemed to be going all the Devils way in the third quarter after a lapse from Grange, but a late goal from Amy Kelly pinned the lead back 29-points at three-quarter time to keep it interesting.
The Gorillas fought hard in the final quarter, but the Devils did just enough to stay in front thanks to some clutch goal kicking from Hayley Newberry, who bagged four for the night.
Jordan Zanchetta was also instrumental for the Devils, kicking three goals at crucial moments throughout the game to keep Wilston Grange at bay.
Despite a spirited effort from the Gorillas, Yeronga took their chances when it counted to record a shaky 30-point victory.
The win keeps the Devils in third spot on the QWAFL ladder, but they will have to step up their game big time if they are any chance of beating the reigning premiers next week.
Coach’s thoughts:
Ron Kemp – Wilston Grange
“It was a very good game I thought, we played a fairly strong, physical game and the girls attacked the footy.
“We lapsed a little bit in the first and third quarter and they skipped on and kicked a few on us, and again we had scoring opportunities and didn’t execute.
“But overall I thought it was a good quality game, I was really impressed with the effort the girls put in and I do believe with a full strength side we can be very competitive against these top clubs.”
Scott Stephens – Yeronga
“Overall it was a pretty lacklustre performance, but when you play an ordinary game of football and get the win that is always a good thing.
“I think if Grange would have had a full set of players we could have been in real trouble, there was a lack of enthusiasm from the girls and overall it was a flat week for us game and training wise.
“We started reasonably ok and that first quarter probably helped us stay ahead a little bit, but it’s not really a game we want to dwell on, we got the four points but it wasn’t a great performance.
“Emily Bates and Jordan Zanchetta were our two shining lights in this game, they were clearly our best two and without them the game would have been a lot closer.”
COOLANGATTA 13.9.87 defeated UQ 0.3.3
Coorparoo might have snapped their six game winning streak a fortnight ago, but that hasn’t stopped Coolangatta from doing what they do best; winning.
A 97-point drubbing of Wilston Grange last week, backed up with an impressive 84-point win over UQ on Saturday has the Bluebirds flying high again and back at the top of the QWAFL ladder.
It was a cracking first quarter for the Bluebirds, who found plenty of space through the middle to bang through six majors in the first twenty minutes.
The second quarter was much of the same for Coolangatta, and Morgan Lowe was relishing a loose role up forward, kicking three for the term to make it a bag of goals by half-time.
Leading by 56-points at the main break, Coolangatta had all the run over UQ, but the Red Lionesses wouldn’t go down wondering.
Down again on personnel, the Red Lionesses depth was always going to tested against the elite Bluebird side, but boy did UQ show plenty of ticker.
Ferocious tackling, unquestioned commitment to the footy and relentless chase was focal in the Red Lionesses performance.
Although UQ couldn’t make an impact on the scoreboard, they were certainly making it tough for opposition, and it was clear that a few Bluebirds were feeling the sting at three-quarter time.
Teena McIlveen had another sensational game for Coolangatta, and Lauren James returned in style for the Bluebirds, kicking two goals for the afternoon.
Bree Koenen was simply amazing for the Red Lionesses, the gutsy half-forward was in everything and was virtually unbeaten in a one on one contest all day.
Despite the unquestionable fight and effort from UQ, Coolangatta were simply a cut above, running out a solid four quarters to take the points.
Coach’s thoughts:
Aaron Russell – Coolangatta
“I know sometimes that when there is a scoreline like that, people think you have dominated, but UQ actually beat us around the contest a lot.
“The girls were feeling really sore after the game, and even though the score might not suggest it, it was one of the tougher games we’ve had all year.
“I was really happy with the effort from the girls, we only had 18 players for a good part of the second half, so I’m proud of the way we fought.
“Bree Koenen is a freak, she is out and out ridiculous. We had quality girls on her all night, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a player dominate one on one like she does, she literally never loses.”
Sharni Webb – UQ
“The first quarter was a bit of a warm up for us with an undermanned side, but after that I thought we kept them pretty quiet and we limited their score, which was a goal for us.
“They beat us by a lot more last time and we kept them under 100 which we were pretty happy about, we just need to work on our forward entries and contested body work.
“We had a completely different team this time around and I thought we played very well, the scoreboard didn’t reflect the game and Cooly even acknowledged that.
“When we have our full strength side we can really take it to teams, we’ve shown that twice against Griffith this season, we just have to take that mental approach to the bigger clubs.
By Grant Hitzman –@granthitzman
