Written by Jarryd Barca
The Calder Cannons Under 18 girls have taken a tumble in the 2019 NAB League finals race after falling to the Geelong Falcons by 14 points in Round 7.
The Calder Cannons Under 18 girls have taken a tumble in the 2019 NAB League finals race after falling to the Geelong Falcons by 14 points in Round 7.
The undefeated Falcons took a 20-point lead into half time and cemented themselves top spot with two matches remaining.
The 3.2 (20) to 1.0 (6) result at Highgate Recreation Reserve was Calder’s second loss in as many matches after a 4-1 start and puts a dint in their finals hunt, now sitting fifth on the ladder.
Bu the season isn’t over for the now 4-3 Cannons.
“We’re good enough, we’ve lost by a total aggregate of 28 points this season and I believe that we are capable of playing finals,” female talent coordinator Russell Humphrey said.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game against an undefeated side and they outplayed us in the first half.
“We fell down at half forward all day – just didn’t compete very well.
“The ball was being rebounded back a lot and we didn’t get it deep enough inside 50, when we did we just couldn’t capitalise.
“Our intensity and endeavour was there all day.”
Humphrey said the ability to defend the ground all over in the second half was a major positive from the contest, keeping the highly-rated Falcons scoreless in the second half.
“It was a great defensive effort,” he said.
“It shows that we’re not far off it. The lessons learned from the game is we need to be a little bit smarter in possession of the footy and have a little bit of composure, because when we did it showed we’re not far off the best team in the competition.”
Captain Georgia Patrikios was a standout for the home side collecting 31 touches and kicking the sole goal in the final term playing a midfield-forward role.
“If we win our last two games we’ll give ourselves the best chance of making the finals which is something we’ve been striving towards all season.”
Georgie Prespakis (32) and Alana Barba (22) were the other major ball winners on the day.
“The players that Paul (coach Paul Tilley) asked to do a job really held their own and stood up tall,” Humphrey said.
“Girls like Kasey Lennox, Pepper Poultney and Flick (Felicity) Theodore were outstanding in defence.”
The girls will be leaving no stone unturned heading into the final two rounds of the NAB League season, with the Eastern Ranges and Oakleigh Chargers four and two points ahead of them respectively on the ladder.
Humphrey said they won’t be relying on other results to go the Cannons’ way.
“We want to finish the year off strongly because of the hard work they’ve all done since November,” he said.
“If we win our last two games we’ll give ourselves the best chance of making the finals which is something we’ve been striving towards all season.”