On Sunday, two Benalla Saints, Ally Ballard and Nicole Donald, laced up their football boots and ran onto Shepparton’s Deakin Reserve alongside the best of the best of women’s football in the region.
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Instead of facing off against players from Shepparton or Nathalia — like they do on a weekly basis in the Northern Country Women’s League — Ballard and Donald teamed up with their rivals to dispose of Central Victoria Women’s Football League by 16 points in an interleague showing between the two regions.
After kicking against the wind in the opening term, NCWL got off to a slow start, but came out firing in the second quarter to turn a 10-point deficit into a 14-point lead by half-time.
And there was no stopping NCWL after that, with the team comfortably holding its lead until the final siren.
But in a bitter end to the day for Ballard, with 25 seconds remaining on the clock, the Benalla product dislocated her elbow, bringing an end to her season with the Saints.
“I looked up the at clock – and normally at that point, I’d hang back at club level, but I thought I’d play to the end,” Ballard said.
“I was tackled, hyperextended my arm and landed on my elbow in excruciating pain.”
But it didn’t dampen her experience of the day, as she singled out a loud and supportive crowd, and being able to play a higher level of football as the highlights.
And speaking post-match, Donald agreed, saying it was “amazing” to be coming home with the win.
“Coming in to it, the coaches had us confident,” Donald said.
‘‘They were confident in us, so that helped in going out there.’’
Lining up in the Saints’ backline this year, Donald was utilised in a different position in the interleague match, spending most of her time in the forward 50 before moving into defence late in the game.
“It’s a little bit different (in attack) because you’ve got to create the play as opposed to defending it,” Donald said.
“You’ve just got to have the confidence in yourself and run and call for it, whereas down in the back you’re watching their play a lot more.”
Meanwhile, Ballard spent most of the match in Northern Country’s defensive line, before rotating through the midfield for fresh legs.
“It was a strong backline,” Ballard said.
“It was good experience to work with Shepparton’s Bree (Davison) and Echuca’s Paige (Baksh).
“Bree was vice-captain, so I took a lead from her.”
NCWL interleague co-coach John Wilson was especially pleased to take away the win.
“The girls really applied themselves throughout the whole selection process and especially on game day,” he said.
“We were really physical and applied pressure right from the start.
“I think that was the difference between the two teams.”
And Wilson was high in praise for the two Benalla footballers.
“Nicole probably had limited opportunities, but when she went down back in the last quarter, she had a few really critical contests which was a big win for us,” Wilson said.
“And Ally was really competitive all day.
“Unfortunately for Ally in the end, the last 20 seconds of the game is never nice, but hopefully she’ll be okay.”
Ballard will miss the remainder of the Saints’ season, with her omission potentially critical as the Saints have a tough run home against Shepparton, Echuca and Nathalia.
But Ballard and Donald will take plenty from their interleague experience back to the Saints.
“Even the drills we’ve been doing, we’ve been able to take it back to do it with the team,” Donald said.
