LAST weekend in the NTFL Women’s (NTFLW) competition saw an absolute masterclass out at TIO Stadium from both St Mary’s and its star forward Kaitlyn Armstrong.

As St Mary’s was ruthless in defeating Palmerston by 125 points, Armstrong run absolutely rampant in the Saints’ forward line, booting a whopping 12 goals of her team’s final total of 20 majors.

This Player Focus will take a more specific look at that stellar performance.

FIRST QUARTER

Stats: five kicks, four marks, four goals, two handballs

It did not take long at all for Armstrong to get involved in the match. Although she did not venture far away from the goal square, she did not need to as she had plenty of strong ball feed from the midfielders streaming forward.

Within the opening minute, she had her first goal. She marked in the goal square and then went back and kicked truly to open the scoring for the Saints.

Her second goal for the quarter was slightly further out than her first was, but she was still dead in front and just as accurate with her kick.

Goal number three was on a slight angle but she was only 2m out and the angle was no issue as she kicked truly again.

Armstrong’s fourth goal came after she received a tap over a defender from team mate Nikita Long while she was sitting in the goal square. She then turned around and kicked through another major with ease.

Even when she was not kicking the goals herself she was sometimes helping to set them up, such as when she took a mark 30m out but then kicked to Danielle Ponter who went back and kicked a goal.

SECOND QUARTER

Stats: five kicks, four goals, three marks, one behind

It took quite a bit longer for Armstrong to get involved in the second quarter as Palmerston finally kicked into gear and actually had some early quarter momentum.

Armstrong’s first goal came nine minutes into the term, when she picked up the ball that had spilled from a contest in the goal square and then snapped the ball.

Goal number two for the quarter came after she took a running mark at 30m out at about shin height. The forward then went back and continued her dead straight accuracy she had shown earlier in the game.

Goal number three came after she read the ball coming in from a Ponter shot, then marked in the goal square and kicked truly.

Her fourth goal for the quarter was from just outside the goal square after she had taken yet another strong mark.

She also had her first miss for the game, after she picked up the ball in the pocket and snapped but the kick ultimately smacked into the goal post.

THIRD QUARTER

Stats: four kicks, three goals, one handball, one mark, one behind

Armstrong did not have as much to do in the third quarter as she had in either of the first two (with much of her work coming in the final minutes of the term), but she did finally get to have a rest on the bench during the quarter.

She kicked three goals for the quarter, but they were three very different snags.

Her first shot of the quarter was actually her second miss for the game as she tried to execute the tight dribble shot but it went across the face.

She was able to rectify minutes later when she marked on the line of the goal square and then went back and converted.

Her second major though was a goal of the year contender, after she danced around an opponent and then dribbled a shot through from the boundary line on an extremely tight angle.

Her third goal came after Ponter snapped the ball across to Armstrong at the top of the goal square, and Armstrong was able to pick it up and slot it dead straight through.

FOURTH QUARTER

Stats: five kicks, two marks, one handball, one goal, two behinds

Armstrong had even less involvement in the last quarter, but it was hardly an issue as her teammates stood up in a big way and still kept the scoring pressure on the Magpies.

Her one goal for the quarter came inside the opening three minutes when she snapped from the pocket and kicked truly.

However, that was not her last scoring involvement for the quarter, kicking two more behinds and setting up yet another one of Ponter’s goals.

Around the Grounds

St Mary’s was certainly not the only side to score a big win over the weekend.

Tiwi picked up a massive win after keeping Wanderers scoreless while PINT picked up an even bigger triumph after also almost keeping the Southern Districts scoreless.

In the smallest of the big wins over the weekend, Darwin still easily accounted for Nightcliff.

NTFLW Premier Division Round 16 Results

St Marys (20.13.133) defeated Palmerston (1.2.8)

Darwin Buffettes (11.10.76) defeated Nightcliff (4.3.27)

PINT (16.11.107) defeated Southern Districts (0.2.2)

Tiwi Bombers (14.13.97) defeated Wanderers (0.0.0)