Wallan’s women football side remain undefeated, winning seven games this season after keeping a competitive Diamond Creek scoreless on Sunday in a 27-0 victory.
Despite facing a significantly bigger opponent in the middle, but the side didn’t let it intimidate them demonstrating excellent ruckwork in the middle.
“It’s the first time the ruckman played, and it wasn’t something we were prepared for. She [Diamond Creek ruck] really bodied our ruckman well,” Wallan head coach Leigh Senior said.
“We had to utilise that fact if she’s going to win in the ruck contest – we’ve got to get the clearances so we can rove off her. Strategy should’ve been to come out wide, which we didn’t do because they set up great structure.”
Nicole Evans kicked the opening goal for the quarter putting the Magpies ahead early. Wallan took advantage of Diamond Creek’s inaccurate kicking with many intercept marks.
At the end of first quarter Wallan were up 1.2 (8) against a scoreless Diamond Creek.
Most of the play remained in Wallan’s forward 50 but the side struggled to convert its efforts into goals. The Mapgies went into half time up 2.7 (19) with Diamond Creek yet to trouble the scorer.
Both sides had difficulty getting movement around the ground in the third term, with constant intercept marks and inaccurate kicking keeping the ball in the midfield for much of the game.
But Shazi Cappello dominated the period of play, constantly diving on lose balls, hitting hard tackles and marking crucial intercepts.
The fourth quarter again saw play mostly in Wallan’s forward 50. Great efforts by fullbacks on both sides prevented several goal attempts, but Wallan managed to snag one final major with a tough kick into their goal square.
“They fought hard against us but we did get the win. We’ve still got a lot of work to do but it’s a good result,” Senior said.
“We’ve put a bloody heap of work in since October. It means a lot because last year we had one victory.
“This year we’ve worked hard but we’re not getting ahead of ourselves. We’ve still got several games to win on the road to a premiership but we’re on the right track.”
Wallan captain Kelly Lennox said the undermanned Diamond Creek took it right up to the Mapgies.
“They were tough. We’re going to find out every week going forward that teams are going to come out wanting to beat us, but it was a hard fought win. At the end of the day we’ve done our job and come away with another win,” she said.
“It feels exciting but nervewracking because we don’t want to let this slip. Being undefeated is a big step for a footy [team] that’s probably won two games in the last four years. It’s so amazing and it’s an awesome feeling.”
A competitive game awaits Wallan as it faces North Heidelberg this weekend.
