THIS past weekend saw Round 15 of the Northern Territory Football League Women’s (NTFLW) Premier League take place across a number of grounds, with most games going ahead as scheduled. Heading into this round, there was just four weeks remaining for teams to either cement a spot in the top, or finish their season on a high. The 15th round of action saw some big wins across the competition, with no game ending closer than a five-goal margin. Unfortunately the Palmerston Magpies were forced to forfeit their match against the Darwin Buffaloes, which gave the victors a crucial win in the context of their season. However, there were still three cracking contests that took place, including an upset from a finals hopeful.

ST MARY’S 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 1.2 (8)
SOUTHERN DISTRICTS 3.0 | 5.5 | 5.6 | 6.6 (42)

The Southern Districts were able to keep their season alive by surprisingly taking down St Mary’s to the tune of 34 points at TIO Stadium on Saturday afternoon. It was a crucial result for the victors, who still remain a mathematical possibility of making an appearance in the postseason. Meanwhile, St Mary’s have now made things difficult for themselves when it comes to finishing in the top-four, and will now be relying on other results to find themselves in the finals come season’s end. The win was set up by a strong opening half from the visitors, with St Mary’s unable to match the scoring output of their opponents as the match slowly but surely slipped out of their hands, as the Districts cruised to victory.

The opening minutes of the first term saw St Mary’s look to push the ball forward early, sending the ball inside-50, but unable to capitalise on the scoreboard. The ball was then moved up the other end where the scoring deadlock was broken, when Districts Abby Hewett was tackled illegally in front of goal, where she converted the set shot and got her team on the board. This started some serious momentum for the visiting side, with their tackling in particular going up a notch with St Mary’s always under the pump. The Districts added another when Keely Waterbury beat three defenders to the ball and slotted the soccer goal. The highlight of the quarter when Grace Whittaker of the Crocs was able to gather the ball, shake off a tackle and kick a skilful banana from the forward pocket to give her side a three-goal lead at quarter-time.

The second term saw more of the same from the Districts as they continued to dominate much of the play. The Crocs kept peppering the ball inside-50, and while their accuracy prevented the margin from getting out of hand, it was still evident that the first half belonged to them. A stoppage goal to Chiarah Koops made things worse for the home side, who were seeing the contest slip away from their grip as the goals continued. Waterbury was proving her dominance up forward by adding another to her name, and by the time the main break rolled around, the Crocs led by 29 points, which could have been a lot worse had St Mary’s not added a late goal.

The third term saw scoring seriously slow up for both sides as the match became much more contested. Both sides were fighting tooth and nail for any form of territory, and when they were able to achieve this, scores were still rare given the strong work by the back six of the two respective teams. It was a much improved term for the home side, who were able to increase their work rate and competitiveness around the ground. When the siren sounded for three-quarter time, the margin had been trimmed back by one point heading into the fourth quarter.

The final term saw yet another low-scoring period, as the wet conditions began to affect play around TIO Stadium. The quarter was filled with congested play, as the two teams battled to extract the ball from the stoppage. It made for some entertaining action despite the low-scoring. The first half of the term saw the ball live in St Mary’s half of the ground, but in a familiar tale, they could not get a score on the board. St Mary’s also lost Shakirah Stevens to a knee injury in the late stages of the match as the siren sounded with the margin finishing at 34 points.

For the victors, Emma Forsyth was named best afield for her performance, affecting the match with her gut running and footy smarts. Down back, Malory Nankervis was a wall of defence, thwarting plenty of opposition attacks, particularly in the second half when St Mary’s were making their play.

Around the grounds now, Waratah produced a terrific performance to kick off proceedings for Round 15, defeating the Wanderers by a whopping 100-point margin at Gardens Oval on Wednesday afternoon. In the annual Australia Day clash, Waratah were able to essentially cement their spot in the top four, thanks to a six-goal haul from Lisa Miceli.

The final match of the round saw PINT strengthen their spot on the ladder with a 120-point triumph over Tracy Village at DXC Arena on Saturday night. The reigning premiers appear to be back to their best, and if they can maintain this form heading into the upcoming finals series, then they could do some serious damage to some of the teams stationed above them.