THE City West Falcons are Champions of the VNL, after defeating the Geelong Cougars in the Grand Final last night.

After Geelong was on top for much of the game, City West surged home in the last quarter to run over the top and take the win.

It was unsurprisingly a tight affair to begin the match, with both sides trading blows and not giving an inch.

It took just under six minutes for either side to break the centre pass, and then they both got a break on subsequent centres.

The Falcons then broke again and were able to solidify the break that time. They Falcons were utilising Jane Cook’s height to their advantage as they held a two goal lead for much of the rest of the quarter.

Meanwhile, the Cougars leant on their speed advantage via Vanessa Augustini as they clawed back into the lead in the final few minutes of the quarter.

Geelong looked a lot more settled than City West in the opening exchanges of the second term, and thanks to a few errors from the Falcons, the Cougars were able to extend their lead. Victoria Honner was providing some excellent intercepts in defence, while Zanna Woods and Julia Woolley continued to shoot very accurately up the other end.

At half time the Cougars held a six-goal ascendancy and looked well in control.

The Falcons rejigged their shooting circle at half time, teaming up Uneeq Palavi and Madelyn Gray again, which they were the shooting partnership that got them over the line in the semi final.

The change seemed to work as the Falcons were able to halve the margin in the front half of the quarter.

They kept reducing the margin even further in the back half of the quarter, and drew level.

However, the Cougars then steadied and established their lead.

Ultimately the margin was five goals in favour of the Cougars, and it was all to play for in the last.

It was the Falcons who got the much better start to the final term, and slowly ate away at Geelong’s lead.

With just under nine minutes to go, the Falcons drew level and things started to get really interesting.

The Falcons were then able to sneak ahead but Geelong was not going to lie down without a fight.

Zoe Davies was a star in defence for the Falcons, certainly not afraid to put her body on the line in the pursuit of the intercept.

The teams traded blows for much of the second half of the quarter, but crucially for City West they still held a two-goal buffer.

The Falcons also did well to wind down the clock, adding further pressure onto the minor premiers.

City West’s supporters were up and about and as the seconds ticked down, the Cougars ran out of time to make up the difference.