This Saturday saw the New England Nomads field a women’s team for the first time in two years. After a circumstantial forfeit to the Moree Suns the week before, the girls were eager to get out on the park. Many of which were debutantes playing their first game for the club and of their life. Our spiritual leader in Ellie Ryan was announced as team captain, a role I believe she will excel at. The extra game time and fitness of the Swans squad as too much for our girls going down 1.3.9 to 9.17.71. All things considered we were undermanned coming up against a full-strength opposition.

A pre-match agreement meant that a few Swans girls came across and donned a Noeys jumper for a half to make a more even game of it. The girls started the first quarter with incredible intensity and effort. First gamer Lauren Nest was dominant in the ruck winning many taps, surprising even herself with her ability. Ellah Thompson, Casey Morris and Amy Fisher expertly extracted the ball from the centre bounce and were making contests around the ground. The Swans were a little rattled by the intensity and style of football brought by our girls. This showed on the scoreboard with only three behinds scored.

Match fitness became a factor heading into the second quarter. After a blistering start in the first quarter, tired legs and unsettled attacking let the Swans intercept and open us up on the rebound. The margin grew with a few goals from the Swans, but the girls never dropped their heads and kept battling. More often than not the Swan’s attempts to score were foiled by our formidable backline consisting of Charlotte Star, Caiti D’Gluyas and Molly Martin. Coming into half time, we were still well and truly in the contest.

Despite the heavy legs, the third quarter saw the girls take it to the Swan’s in the contest. The tackling pressure and second efforts were phenomenal which full credit to the girls, shows heart and pride in the jumper. While the Swans kicked away, they didn’t do it easy. The intercept marking and run out of fullback from Charlotte shut down their key forward in a best on ground performance. Inefficiency going forward cost us as we struggled to get the ball in the hands of el Capitán and key forward Ellie which made converting our hard work into scores tricky.
Heading into the fourth, it was clear that clawing back a 42-point deficit would be difficult against a well drilled and fitter Swans outfit. However, a goal from Amy put a little bit of respectability back into the game. The girls kept up the effort and found another gear to keep the Swans to only three goals for the quarter.
Each and every one of our Nomads girls who took the field should hold their heads high. Everyone contributed and gave a red-hot crack, more so they had fun while doing it. As a coach, you can’t ask for more than that. With a few girls to come back into the side in the coming weeks, there is a lot to like about the Nomads 2021 Women’s squad.

Awards:
Player’s Player: Charlotte Star
Captain’s Award: Caiti D’Gluyas
Coach’s Award: Lauren Nest

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 25th, 2021 at 3:59 pm and is filed under Match report, Women. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.