WITH the Under 17s AFL Women’s Championship matches continuing, some of South Australia’s top products heading into future drafts went head-to-head at Thebarton Oval on Saturday June 5 in front of recruiters and footy fans. Split into two teams, SA Blue and SA Yellow, it was Blue that would come out on top at the final siren, never dropping the lead all day to win the game by 23 points, 8.9 (57) to 5.4 (34).

The first quarter saw SA Blue register plenty of scoring shots, but unable to truly take advantage of the shots, they ended the quarter 2.5 (17). With Deriney Headon opening the game with a goal less than two minutes in, the Blue side would register four behinds in a row before seeing their second goal, courtesy of Timeka Cox about 10 minutes later. Despite the inaccuracy, they managed to hold SA Yellow scoreless for the first term.

Yellow would not get their first score on the board until 10 minutes into the second quarter, as Astrid Gooley got herself on the scoreboard with a goal – Yellow’s only score of the first half. SA Blue did not manage much better however, unable to maintain their first term scoreboard impact, as they got just the one behind and one goal with Marlie Fiegert registering the major, in what would end up the lowest scoring quarter for the contest.

The third quarter saw SA Blue break away from SA Yellow scoring 3.3 to just the 1.2, with Mia Nolan-Grigg, Tiah Hough and Shineah Goody adding one each to the teams goalkickers list, taking advantage of their sides’ midfield strength and inside 50 count. SA Yellow had Gooley to thank again for their single goal, finding the sticks well to impact out the front.

Gooley refused to stop there, with a two-goal final quarter effort seeing her kick four of Yellow’s five total goals, with the remaining major kicked by Georgia McKee a little over halfway through the quarter. Yellow unfortunately could not stifle the efforts of Blue as much as they did in the second quarter, as Goody booted her second, and Elaine Grigg snatched one early in the quarter. 

Lana Schwerdt (29 disposals, two clearances, eight inside 50s) was the joint leading disposal-getter for the game, sharing the honours with teammate Grigg (29, four and eight), with Fiegert (27, three and three) not far behind. Grigg also laid an impressive 10 tackles, equal highest with Blue teammate Chloe Whitington-Charity. Matilda Scholz gathered the most hitouts with 10, three more than the next best on ground.

SA Yellow had some valiant performances despite the loss, with Gooley kicking four goals to double the next best goal kicker of the game. Jemma Whitington-Charity (20 disposals, eight marks, four rebound 50s), Kate Argent-Bowden (20, five, six) and Grace McNicol (20, three tackles, two clearances) were the main ball-winners for Yellow, whilst Bethany Sigley laid an impressive nine tackles. Millie McCarthy proved to be a big driver from defence with a match-high 11 rebound 50s.

SA BLUE 2.5 | 3.6 | 6.9 | 8.9 (57)
SA YELLOW 0.0 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 5.4 (34)

GOALS:

Blue: S. Goody 2, E. Grigg, M. Fiegert, T. Hough, T. Cox, D. Headon, M. Nolan-Grigg.
Yellow: A. Gooley 4, G. McKee.

Picture credit: Mark Brake/AFL Photos