The Olinda Women headed into their game looking forward to a good contest against Belgrave after some tough battles last year.
The game started very evenly as Belgrave managed to hold up Olinda’s run and create congestion around the ball. Scoring was hard and an early injury to Kiah Burgess robbed Olinda of an avenue to goal. Olinda went into the first break a goal ahead, confident they could win contests around the ground, but having to work towards breaking up the congestion.
Each week, the midfield is building its connection, generating clearances and the first use of the footy and this week was no exception. Led by Chelsea Wilson’s ruck work and the grunt out of the midfield through Maddie Collins and Lily Carlin, Olinda was able to get early possession and generate forward entries. The Belgrave ruck physically contests every ball up and didn’t let Chelsea jump like she’s accustomed so she really had to work for each tap.
As the game progressed, Olinda’s forward line started to click with repeated entries. Vanessa Bateman looks to be locking in her role at centre half-forward, creating space for full forward Phoebe Dixon to run into while also generating a lot of play herself. As for Phoebe, she had a night out with 5 goals and 3 hand passes. This is possibly more bandpasses than she has had in her football career to date, but they generated scores and showed her understanding of the role she is being asked to play deep and in the corridor. It was easily the best game she has played for the Olinda women.
Olinda’s defensive efforts led by Casey Seymour and Leah Cody were excellent as they repeatedly repelled Belgrave’s forward entries. These two and their fellow defenders are as miserly as they come and refused to give opposition forwards any relief, whilst Alex Gunn ran with Belgrave’s hard nut midfielder and gave her no opportunity to play her game. These defensive efforts kept Belgrave scoreless in the second and third terms to keep Olinda well in front.
In the end, Belgrave ran out of legs as a lack of game time caught up with them and a four-goal final quarter sealed a solid win for the Olinda girls as they look forward to a rematch with Pakenham this weekend. All girls contributed and there was the development of the team across the board.
