THE Northern Football Netball League women’s competition reaches the final home-and-away round this week, with plenty to play for for Whittlesea, while Laurimar finishes its season this weekend.
A must-win game for Whittlesea may well have delivered the double-chance for the Eagles, provided they beat Diamond Creek 2 this weekend, following a 16-point win over Eltham 2 away from home at Eltham Central Park.
A difficult first quarter saw scoring hard to come by in the opening term, with the score deadlocked at 0-0 after the first change.
However, the game opened up in the second quarter, and Whittlesea delivered three goals to two to lead 18-12 at the main break.
Whittlesea extended its lead in the third quarter, but could only manage one goal from four scoring shots. Still, the Eagles led 27-19 at the final change.
With it all to play for, the Eagles kicked the only goal of the final term to deliver a 5.5 (35) to 3.1 (19) victory.
Audrey Steinke led from the front in a best-on-ground performance, while Ashley Fitzpatrick, Harper McPherson-Goulding, Chloe Hicks, Eden Attard and Hayley Osborne were also named in the best, with Indiana Robinson kicking two goals.
With just 15 players, Laurimar put up an incredibly valiant effort against top-of-the-table Macleod, losing by 44 points at Laurimar Reserve.
The Power looked to limit the damage as much as possible by creating stoppages to frustrate Macleod, and it worked a treat in the opening term as the ladder-leaders could only muster one goal, leading 10-0 at the first break.
Macleod struggled to score in the second quarter, adding one more goal as the lead still sat at 17 points at the main break, 17-0.
Laurimar continued to frustrate the Kangaroos, who added one more goal in the third to lead 26-0 at the final change.
With players tiring, Macleod finally broke out from its shackles in the last term to kick three goals, winning 6.8 (44) to 0.0 (0).
Lize-Carina Jankowitz, Savannah Brand, Calizta Jankowitz, Caitlyn Bitton, Breanna Dyer and Lilly Bradshaw were all named in the best for the Power.
The Power will wrap up its season looking for a fourth win when they travel to Main Street Reserve, facing Thomastown.
