PARRAMATTA Goannas made it three consecutive wins in the AFL Sydney Women’s Premier Division with a hard-fought 16-point victory over fellow finals hopefuls, North Shore Bombers. The Goannas were down by five points at half-time but kicked the only three goals of the second half to come away with the 4.8 (32) to 2.4 (16) win.

It started raining just before the match and did not stop pouring down until the well after the match, but it was the Goannas that best adapted to the conditions. It was always going to be a wet and slippery slog, and with the visiting team’s most experienced players around the football, were able to get thir hands on it and extract it well.

It was the Sera Kaukiono show as she took the game by the scruff of the neck and imposed herself around the ball as much as she good. Before the end of the game, Amanda Farrugia joined in and showed all of her experience to evade and constantly drive the ball forward.

North Shore was being opened up too often on the counterattack and eventually the goals game. In contrast to their opponents, the Bombers held more of a firm line and waited patiently, but it never came as the higher risk, higher reward style from the Goannas got the job done. Young Ella Daniel did a great job in restricting Bombers skipper Matilda Eder too.

Interestingly for North Shore, despite the loss, it should be a great learning curve for the Bombers. Their one, two or three extraction style of play was looking quite dangerous at the start of the match, but the weather and the Goannas’ ability to disrupt their handball chains put a stop to it. Whilst they still need to add a Plan B, C and D to their football, it should give the Bombers confidence when they return to dry weather football.

Overall, Parramatta’s big guns such as Caitlin Fletcher got in and rolled their sleeves up, and took the match with good old fashioned hard work and a clear victory in the inside football, and they clearly adapted to the conditions better. Young gun Kiera Yerbury was also a standout in the crucial win.

Emily Bliss was named best-on in a losing side with Stephanie Krauel and Zoe Hurrell also among the better Bombers with Kaukiono a clear best on ground for the Goannas, while Jenna Whitehead and Abbie Lewis also impressed.

NORTH SHORE BOMBERS 1.1 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 2.6 (16)
PARRAMATTA GOANNAS 0.2 | 1.4 | 2.7 | 4.8 (32)

GOALS:
North Shore: A. Barraclough, A. Keeffe
Parramatta: L. Easton, S. Kaukiono, B. Wade, K. Yerbury

BEST:
North Shore: E. Bliss, S. Krauel, Z. Hurrell, S. Smit, C. Tidemann
Parramatta: S. Kaukiono, J. Whitehead, A. Lewis, P. Pirotta, E. Daniel

AROUND THE GROUNDS

In an even wetter match on real grass, Pennant Hills did all of the damage in the first half to set up the Demons’ first win for the season against St George Dragons. Hayley Lowe was everywhere, using beautiful footwork and evasion to constantly drive the ball down the field, and Alex Williams was a strong presence in the ruck battle, often getting clear taps , which was crucial in the wet conditions for the 4.4 (28) to 0.1 (1) victory.

Sydney Uni got the better of UNSW-ES Bulldogs in a tight struggle that only broke open in the third term where the Students kicked three of their four goals. Ella Van Den Borne and Saskia Johnson were standouts in the victory.

Manly Warringah Wolves got over UTS Bats playing stifling football and stopping linkages in a low scoring game that showed a lot of the strengths and weaknesses of both teams. The Wolves won 3.4 (22) to 2.0 (12) in challenging conditions, with Hannah Woolf and Zara Hamilton among the best for the Wolves.

The results over the weekend have created a fascinating ladder, with logjams across the top six which makes the next few weeks crucial matchups for ladder positions.