THIS week’s Match of the Round in the Queensland Australian Football League (QAFL) Women’s saw a 2021 Grand Final rematch, and it was an absolutely classic encounter, with Bond Uni and University of Queensland unable to be split.

Although Bond Uni had much of the ball and inside 50 play early in the first term, it was Jacqui Russell who got the first goal up the other end for UQ. Luka Yoshida-Martin then kicked UQ’s second and the Red Lionesses had built a nice lead for themselves.  

Momentum swung back Bond’s way late in the term and they got their first on the board through Mikayla Pauga. In the end an entertaining first term came to an end with the margin sitting at seven points in favour of UQ.

Although the Red Lionesses got the opening inside 50 of the second term, it was Bond Uni who scored first in the term through Pauga again to reduce the margin back down to one.

Then much of the middle part of the term was spent in UQ’s forward line but they could not convert. Then things switched and it was Bond who had all the momentum but couldn’t convert. Even though they couldn’t convert, they were able to lock it in their attacking half of the ground, with UQ just to penetrate through the middle of the ground.

No one kicked a goal in the second term, but with a number of behinds kicked in the term, it was Bond who led by a single point at the major break. The third term was pretty much all UQ’s, but Bond turned things around late. It took just over a minute into the third term for UQ to level the scores again after Kadie Fletcher kicked a behind. 

Bond almost got a goal against the run of play but some clever defending from UQ meant that it did not even result in a goal.   It then lingered in UQ’s forward line for a while before Ashanti Jackson kicked a goal just under seven minutes in to widen the gap for UQ.

Megan Hunt then scored another one for UQ minutes later and suddenly the margin was 19 points in UQ’s favour. Bond Uni got a goal late in the term through Riley Hodgson, which brought the margin back to seven. They then got a second through Jasmyn Smith and suddenly the margin was back down to a single point.

And that is where things would remain at the final change and with one quarter left, it really was anyone’s game to win. Fletcher took only two minutes into the last term to finally convert and UQ’s lead was back out to seven.

After a clever mark three minutes later, Laquoiya Cockatoo-Motlap converted for Bond which saw the margin back down to one. Yoshida-Martin then converted again to extend the margin back out to a goal.

After a frenetic few minutes, Bond had a seven point play and after Smith kicked her second it was the Bull Sharks who held a one point lead. UQ had all the attacking momentum late in the match, and certainly had their chances to try and win.

One last frantic kick from Fletcher resulted in a behind with only 40 second to go, and ultimately that would be all she wrote, and the match was a draw.

In other results:

• Southport continued their stellar debut season in the QAFLW, defeating Coorparoo by 54 points.

A four goal to none first term really set the win up for the Sharks, and Coorparoo only managed to kick one goal all afternoon. For Southport, Player was a star in front of goal, booting three majors, while Hannah Davies and Brianna McFarlane booted two each. Meanwhile for Coorparoo, Laura Blue, Sally Young and Jenae Govan were among the best for the Kings in a tough loss.

• Aspley bounced back from last week’s tough loss with a comprehensive win over Wilston Grange.

The Hornets kept the Gorillas scoreless for a half, and the Gorillas only managed two goals for the entire match. For Aspley, Rania Crozier, Abby Hewett, Lilu Hung and Angela Lingard all booted two majors, while for Wilston Grange Ruby Ker, Georgia Smith and Daisy Carter were all among the best in another tough loss for the Gorillas.  

• Yeronga South Brisbane suffered another tough loss, this time at the hands of Maroochydore.

They kicked their only goal in the third term, and by that point the Roos had already run away with the match, and ultimately won by 85 points. There were plenty of Roos that kicked multiple goals. Rachel Crack and Chloe Gregory kicked three, while Emma Day, Sophie Peters and Jazmin Tweedle-O’Donnell all kicked two. Meanwhile for the Devils, Charlotte Taylor, Lucy Bellinger and Ebony Milne all played well in the tough loss.