James Murphy
MUNDULLA 6.4 (40) d PENOLA 3.3 (21)
IT was a weekend where not much was happening in South East sport, but the Limestone Coast Women’s Football League managed to beat the extreme heat with its Friday night fixture.
All Round 8 games were played under lights across two venues, aside from the Casterton Sandford v North Gambier fixture which was abandoned.
A feature of the round was a meeting between ladder-leader Mundulla and third-placed Penola.
The teams locked horns at McLaughlin Park and at the final siren Mundulla emerged the victor by 19 points.
Despite breaking away in the second half, the northern Tigers did not have it all their way.
Penola outscored its rival in the opening term, leading two goals to one at the first change.
However, the Eagles were held scoreless in the second quarter and two goals to Mundulla switched the lead heading into half time.
Mundulla doubled its score in the third to ice the game, restricting Penola to a single behind in the process.
That gave the ladder leader a 23-point advantage heading into the final stanza.
The margin was too great for the Eagles and while Mundulla added just four behinds for the quarter, their goal and two behinds had them fall by 19.
Zoe Hawker led the charge for Mundulla and gained the best-on-ground honours for the round.
Brooke Ballinger was also impressive and she scored three of Mundulla’s six majors.
Kelsie Turner and Kelsey Batt were other goal kickers who landed on the best players’ list, while Kelsey Batt also found the big sticks.
Natasha Horne and Madalyn Williams rounded out the top performers.
It was no surprise to see Caroline McGrath at the top of Penola’s best players as the Eagles’ skipper continued her impressive season.
Goals were shared as Angela Broad, Nicole Davidson and Lyndall Feast all converted.
Amanda Wurst and Ellise Berkin have been regulars among the best this season and stepped up again on Friday, as did Shandeen Balshaw, Alice Rainsford and Chloe Long.
The result has seen Penola drop to fourth place, with Kybybolite now holding third on percentage.
Mundulla remains comfortably on top with an undefeated record heading into a bye for this weekend’s final minor round.
KYBYBOLITE 15.13 (103) d NANGWARRY 0.0 (0)
A big win to Kybybolite has pushed it up into third place on the Limestone Coast women’s football premiership ladder.
The Tigers played Nangwarry at Casterton’s Island Park and it was certainly a one-sided contest.
At the final siren Kyby had amassed 103 points, all while holding the Saints scoreless for four quarters.
The writing was on the wall early after an eight-goal-six first term set up a 54-point lead.
That was Kyby’s largest return and from there it was in cruise control on the way to victory.
Tayor Ryan and Elle Treloar were in fine form in front of goals and they combined for nine majors at the end of the night.
Following an impressive first quarter, Kyby added another three goals in the second.
That put the margin out to 75 points at the half.
Four more majors followed in the third, while the fourth quarter went scoreless at both ends as Nangwarry stepped up its defensive pressure.
It did little to the end result and a 103-point thrashing gave Kyby the percentage boost it need to leapfrog Penola into third position.
Ryan topped the best players for the match, while Madeleine Huggins and Treloar also featured highly.
Maryann Thompson, Prue Davies and Lily Clifford-Finch rounded out the best players in a strong team performance.
KONGORONG 5.9 (39) d MILLICENT 3.3 (21)
The opening game of women’s football at McLaughlin Park on Friday night had the home team clash with Kongorong.
The visiting Hawks have been in good form of late and after a good battle they recorded their third consecutive win.
Millicent started strongly and led throughout the first half.
A two-goal-one opening quarter gave the Saints an 11-point lead at quarter time, before another goal in the second kept Kongorong at arm’s length.
The margin was seven points at half time, but the Hawks found another gear in the third term.
They added two goals and a behind to edge in front by five points, after just one behind came from Millicent for the quarter.
The final stanza was a similar story as Kongorong snagged two majors and two behinds and Millicent added a single point.
That left the Hawks to an 18-point victory – the closest margin for the round.
For the second week in a row Evie Sealey received the best-on-ground honours for Kongorong.
She was joined by Allegra Rzepiela and Tilah Buckingham as the top performers, with the latter adding one goal to the total.
Jade Longbottom also made the best players and she equal top scored with teammate Eadie Mustart both on two goals.
Taylor Cozzi and Riley Buckingham earned mentions as well for their efforts in what was another strong performance from the Hawks.
Millicent looked to the likes of Macy Burns, Isabelle Wilson and Emily Walker on the night, while Amellia Gronn, Vicki Noll and Lana Shepherd all kicked a goal each.
Heading into the final minor round Kongorong will hope to carry its momentum into a meeting with Kybybolite, while Millicent faces Casterton Sandford in a battle between eighth and fifth.
CASTERTON SANDFORD v NORTH GAMBIER (abandoned)
