Roys edge out the CYs in a thriller

Round 5 of William Buck Premier Women’s saw a thrilling weekend of footy in which the Beaumaris Sharks were thrown into the fold. The Sharks faced Caulfield Grammarians in their first taste of Premier football, whilst St Kevin’s battled it out with familiar rival Kew; Fitzroy faced Williamstown CYMS and Old Scotch travelled to West Brunswick to face the Magpies.

Caulfield Grammarians continued their hot start to the season with a comprehensive victory, defeating newcomers Beaumaris 11.10 (76) to 0.3 (3). The win takes the Field’s to five wins without a defeat and top spot on the William Buck Premier Women’s ladder. Sarah Kenny continued her terrific start to the season for Caulfield, kicking three majors and Leanora Aruci matched Kenny’s effort with three of her own.

The Sharks applied themselves well in their first hit-out in Premier football against one of the best teams that the division has to offer. Beaumaris Head Coach Sam Calogero was pleased with the efforts of his side and admitted there will be plenty to learn from the performance.

“I was pleased with our unrelenting efforts and ability to play the game out; we displayed some great passages of play but need to consolidate on this to maintain our composure and structures around the ground.”

Calogero was similarly pleased with his side’s ability to adapt to the change in competition after a strong start in Premier B. “After a week of change I was pleased with our players efforts, intensity and positivity.”

The Sharks will look to adjust on the fly from this first up performance heading into a crucial clash with Old Geelong next Saturday.

Old Scotch asserted their dominance over West Brunswick in a hard-fought contest at McAlister Oval. The Cardinals took the chocolates over the Magpies 3.8. (26) to 1.2 (8) and improve to four wins and one loss to start the year.

Leaders for the Cardinals led from the front with Captain Katie Hunter-Scott, Maggie Wilson and Maxine Wells all putting in strong individual performances.

Old Scotch Coach Dean Anderson praised his side’s efforts as well as noting how strong of a competition William Buck Premier Women’s is in 2025.

“That was a hard-fought win. A great competition this year. The opposition were physically strong and held up very well in defence making scoring very difficult for us. We were really pleased.”

West Brunswick Coach Ryan Wardel was similarly positive about his side’s performance, in particular the Magpies decisions to take the game on which he believes will put them in good stead moving forward.

“I was happy with the team’s performance, our intensity and appetite for contest and risk taking was the best so far this year. We’ll take confidence from that, knowing that if we can clean up our offensive structure and connection, we can turn that game into a win.”

St Kevin’s looked to continue their undefeated start to the season when they travelled to Victoria Park to face Kew. The 2025 Grand Finalists were able to prevail in a nail-biting contest that went down to the final minutes, 5.2 (32) to 4.4 (28).

The victory sits the Saints at five wins and zero losses with a mouth-watering clash against similarly undefeated Caulfield Grammarians next Saturday.

St Kevin’s coach Tom Purcell was full of praise for the effort from his side and noted the continued development of some of the younger players in the Saints squad.

“Really pleased with the team’s ability to grind out a win against an opposition that served the contest up to us all day. The development of our younger players continues to impress, especially the progress of Molly Wilson and Mischa Beaconsfield. 

The Bears have continued to impress throughout the early stages of the 2025 season without putting many wins on the board. Nevertheless, coach Emily Avery was full of excitement when discussing her team’s performance.

“Best game of the season so far. We contested the footy well and were able to stop their fast ball movement. We had a few lapses late in the game and they capitalised on that. The game was lost on not making the most out of opportunities.”

VAFA fans saw another last-minute thriller in Premier Women’s at W.T. Peterson Oval, with Fitzroy gallantly defeating Williamstown CYMS 5.9 (39) to 4.13 (37).

The game was a tale of two halves with CY’s jumping out to a seven-point lead at half time despite their inaccurate goal kicking, with the away team managing just one goal from eleven scoring attempts. However, Fitzroy took control in the second half with a monster third quarter to take a two-point lead into the final break and held on by the same margin when the final siren sounded.

Fitzroy coach Nathan Jumeau spoke to the topsy turvy nature of the game and the individuals who clawed the Roy’s back into the game.

“Really happy with our second half, to fight back after a very poor first half shows some growth in the team. Morgan Mcnally’s leadership on field was great, Olivia Brilliant continues to get better each week and it was great to have Imogen Milford down in the forward line.”

In contrast, CY’s coach Xavier Smith reflected on the missed opportunities his side were unable to convert.

“Very disappointing result on the weekend, we felt as though we were well and truly on top of the game early – we just couldn’t do the damage on the scoreboard. We certainly left some goals out there on the weekend.”

However, as is the case in VAFA football, Smith looked to the positives and the future of his football club.

“The most pleasing part was the impact Addison West was able to have in her first game. At just 16, she broke the game open with her speed and was tenacious at the contest. One to watch in the future.”

With regrading now complete, we see nine teams battle it out in William Buck Premier Women’s, with Beaumaris having coming up and both MUWFC and Old Yarra Cobras being regraded into lower divisions. As a result, Old Geelong received a week off and will look to utilise the break to their advantage when they face Premier Women’s newest side, Beaumaris in Round 6.

Fitzroy will look to make it two wins on the bounce at home against Old Scotch. Williamstown travel to West Brunswick and will attempt to right the wrongs of Round 5. Kew will lick their wounds after their tough loss to St Kevin’s with the bye. Finally, in what should be an enthralling contest, the two undefeated teams of Premier Women’s face off at TH King Oval with St Kevin’s and Caulfield Grammarians set to do battle to stay perfect.