Coburg roar to first win as Kew, Collegians & SKOB roll on

Annie Ireland

Round two of William Buck Premier Women’s proved to be an interesting one and has set up some blockbusters for round three, as some teams announced themselves as serious threats to St Kevin’s quest for a three-peat, whilst others failed to fire.

In what was tipped to be an entertaining battle between two of last year’s best sides, Kew defeated Caulfield Grammarians by 36 points, doubling their score.  The game was close for the first half, with Kew only leading by 11 points at quarter time. However, Kew turned the jets on in the second half, allowing Kew to kick only 2.2 for the rest of the game.

Lily Barr and Laura Mayne were two of Kew’s best, kicking three goals each, whilst Catia Cococcia was a clear best on.  For Caulfield, Maggie Minchin and Chloe O’Malley both kicked a goal each to be two of their best.

Kew now sit at the top of the ladder and will come up against Collegians next week and both will be coming off the back of wins. Caulfield will take on Fitzroy at Brunswick Street and will be looking for a win, after a tough two weeks to start the season.

Wow – what a massive second game for the new Coburg Lions, beating Old Xavs by 105 points in a dominant showing and ultimately a warning to the competition of what to expect from the Lions this season.

Playing on their home deck for the first time, Coburg showed that they will be tough to play, particularly at Piranha Park this season. Old Xavs never showed much fight and faced a tough day out, being held scoreless after quarter time.

The Lions had six individual goalkickers, with Mangan kicking five goals, whilst Zayat was best on ground and Crowe led from the front for Xavs. It’ll be an intriguing game next weekend when the fourth placed Lions come up against the third placed St Kevin’s. Meanwhile, Xavs will play West Brunswick at home.

It was an extremely close game between Collegians and Old Scotch, with Scotch’s inability to capitalise in the first half ultimately costing them the game.

After not kicking a goal in the first quarter, Collegians came out on top for the rest of the game to kick 2.3 and snatch their second win of the season, ensuring Scotch only scored one goal after quarter time.

With neither team scoring in the fourth quarter, it was a hard slog to the finish line in an evenly matched contest. Georgia Fraser Smith was best on ground for Scotch whilst Abbie Connor kicked both of their goals. For Collegians, Freya Parker was best on.

Collegians come up against Kew next week in one of the games of the round and will be hoping to hold onto their undefeated start to the season as they now find themselves in second position, proving they belong in the premier division. For Scotch, they’ll play Melbourne Uni, with both teams searching for their second win.

After West Brunswick and Fitzroy suffered heavy defeats last weekend, both teams proved to be a lot more competitive in round two.

Recognition must be given to Fitzroy, who proved gallant in defeat and would be proud of their efforts this weekend, after failing to record a score against Kew last week.

It was an evenly matched contest for the first half, however, a strong third quarter from West Brunswick ultimately cost Fitzroy the game, scoring three goals to Fitzroy’s one, to push the margin to 16 points. However, Fitzroy mounted a late comeback in the fourth quarter, scoring three goals to make the final margin only 12 points.

Sunday Brisbane was best on ground for Fitzroy and scored one goal, whilst Kristy De Pellegrini was clearly best on ground, scoring three goals for West Brunswick.

Fitzroy will come up against Caulfield next weekend in what will be a tough game, whilst West Brunswick will play Old Xavs.

As they unfurled their premiership flag in front of a home crowd, St Kevin’s reminded everyone why they are one of the best teams in the competition, knocking off Melbourne Uni by 30 points in what potentially could’ve been an even bigger deficit had they kicked straight.

St Kevin’s only allowed Melbourne Uni to kick eight points for three quarters of the game and asserted their dominance over the contest early, kicking 32 points for the first half. However, Melbourne Uni defended well in the third quarter, as St Kevin’s only kicked one goal.

Bree Doyle continued her fine form from last year, taking out best on ground for the game, whilst Sarah Betts also backed up her own strong performance from last weekend. Asha Price kicked Melbourne Uni’s two goals, whilst Victoria Holt was their best.

St Kevin’s will play Coburg next weekend in what should prove to be an interesting match following Coburg’s dominance this week, whilst Melbourne Uni will be searching for a win against Old Xavs.