OVER the weekend, the final round of the Northern Territory Football League Women’s (NTFLW) action took place. There were some exciting matchups on the schedule, and the competition lived up to the hype, delivering a number of high-scoring clashes between some of the strongest performing sides this season. Headlining this action was a matchup between PINT and St Mary’s, with both sides eager to avoid a place in the elimination final, and last year’s winners were able to do just that.

ST MARY’S 0.0 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.2 (8)
PINT 5.4 | 5.6 | 6.7 | 9.9 (63)

In the most anticipated match of the round, two of the competition’s finalists went head-to-head when St Mary’s hosted PINT at TIO Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The two sides were locked into the postseason, but it loomed likely that the winner of this match would sneak into the top three and claim the double-chance. It was also set up to be a cracking contest, given the teams have both performed strongly throughout the 2021/22 season. In the end, it was PINT who produced a dominant performance to completely outplay their opponents and claim a 55-point win.

The match opened with some attacking play from both sides, with a number of players throwing themselves at the the ball with some serious intent. This resulted in some fast-paced ball movement between the arcs, but it was PINT who were able to draw first blood, jumping out to an early lead. This started a serious run of goals for the visiting side, with players such as Anna Traill and Rhiarna Myatt getting in on the action. St Mary’s were held to no score at the end of the first term, trailing by a whopping 34 points.

St Mary’s started the second term in much better fashion than how they finished the first, booting the first goal of the period and their first of the match. This quarter ended up being much tighter than the first, with this major ending up being the only one scored for the entire quarter. Both sides were looking to rebound out of defensive 50, but each team’s defence stood up, and the margin still stood at 29 at the main break.

The second half kicked off with PINT locking the ball in their half of the ground for much of the third term. However, they still found themselves unable to truly punish their opponents on the scoreboard, as St Mary’s fought tooth and nail to extract the ball from defensive-50. Only one goal was added for PINT in the term, with Jacinta Reid on the right end of a 50-metre penalty and converting the easiest of set shots to see the margin sit at six goals heading into the final term.

The fourth quarter saw PINT return to their best, once again keeping the ball in their forward line, but able to get reward for effort this time around. Jordan Nicholls-Ramirez got the ball rolling, and two more goals followed by the time the match wrapped up, with PINT moving into the top four thanks to their big win here. Amy Chittick and Hillary Grubb were the two standouts in the win, with the pair finding plenty of the ball throughout the contest.

Around the grounds …

The Darwin Buffaloes will enter the finals series in some strong form after their big win over the Southern Districts at Norbuilt Oval on Saturday afternoon. The Buffaloes have locked themselves into second spot on the standings, and demonstrated the damage they can do in the postseason with a 45-point triumph to conclude the Districts’ season.

Moving over to Tracy Village for the next match, the Wanderers were able to finish their season in style by taking down Tracy Village to the tune of 16 points on Saturday afternoon. The home side have finished the season without a win, while the Wanderers will enter the off-season on a high as they look towards next season.

The final match of Round 18 saw another top-four clash with the Nightcliff Tigers proving too classy for Waratah at Gardens Oval on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers have been the benchmark for the entirety of the season, and proved this once again on the weekend, taking down the Warriors by a margin of 29 points.