Photos by Simon Ginns.
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The Murray Felines travelled up to Lavington on Sunday for the second time this season to take on the strong Panthers side. For a change, the conditions were benign, and the Lavington oval was in great nick considering the recent rain and wintry weather.
Under 14s
It was a tough day at the office for the young Felines with Lavington running away with a convincing win.
The girls tried hard all match with Abbey Ibrahim, Carrington Schmidt and Violet Fisher leading in the mid field.
The girls never got their game going and they struggled to find their usual drive.
The wonderful thing about sport is that there is always next week, and the young Felines are still enjoying their matches and still keeping their heads high after each match.
Lavington 17.16-118 defeated Murray Felines
Best Felines: Abbey Ibrahim, Ashlyn Willett, Alexia Nagle, Montanna Morey, Carrington Schmidt, Violet Fisher
Under 17s
Who ever said that low scoring matches were dull affairs?
This match had it all, with both teams moving the ball quickly from end to end and defending ferociously.
Despite the low scoring the match was a real highlight of female football and how skilful and fast the game is getting.
The Murray Felines were able to dominate forward possession in the first half of football.
However, the experienced Lavington half back line was able to peel off their opponents to take intercepting marks.
The Felines through the defensive rebounding of Paige Duffy were still able to press and dominate forward possession. However, they were not able to capitalise on their good play.
A couple of times in the first half, Lavington were able to get the ball out the back of the Felines press and run in two goals against the flow of play.
Paige Duffy unfortunately rolled her ankle in the third quarter and the Felines missed her dominance on the half back line. Lavington were able to score another goal to go into the final break two goals up.
In the last quarter, the Felines lifted again led by Ava Loughnan, Mia Spiteri, and Sienna Koop.
A good passage of play resulting in a goal to Angelina Bigger had the Felines only 4 points down with 5 minutes of play to go.
Once again, the Felines dominated the forward possession of the ball but were not able to convert a last goal.
Unfortunately, for the second time in three weeks, they went down to the top of the ladder team by less than a goal.
Coach Brad Nicholson was very upbeat about the team’s performance.
“We still have a few girls to come back into the team. With some strong training let’s have a strong finish to the year and go into finals with a lot of confidence. The team was awesome today and every single person down at the Felines are very proud of you.”
Lavington 3.2-20 defeated Murray Felines 2.4-16
Goals: Georgina Kelly, Angelina Bigger,
Best: Ava Loughnan, Madison Ibrahim, Sienna Koop, Hannah Loughnan, Paige Duffy, Mia Spiteri
Open Women
The match started brilliantly for the Felines with some quick possessions out of the midfield putting the ball in the hands of Georgia Thomas who took on a run reminiscent of Phil Manassa’s run on the MCG during the 1977 grand final.
One bounce, two bounces, the goal umpire was yelling out to kick the ball straight over his head.
Unfortunately, in the anticlimax of the day, Georgia shanked the ball, and it went through for a point.
The Senior Felines were more than competitive throughout the rest of the match, matching the general play with the Lavington opponents.
However, Lavington had a few more avenues to goal and were slowly but surely able to add to their score throughout the match.
Lavington scored a few easier goals in the last quarter to run out comfortable winners in the end. However, the team can take great pride in their game, knowing that they are more than competitive against the best opposition.
Emily Nicholson was in great form taking many solid marks and applying some great tackles throughout the match.
Claire Megarrity battled hard all day and when she was able to keep Lavington’s best player quite in the third quarter when she was moved onto her.
The midfield battled hard all-day lead by the Yasmine Budic, Mietta Habets, Chloe Mitchell and Caitlin Somerville.
Kaitlyn Robinson had another solid game, getting many clearances around the back line.
Lavington 8.9-57 Defeated Murray Felines
Best: Emily Nicholson, Claire Megarrity, Josephine Muscat, Kaitlyn Robinson
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