Junior Football: Yarra Youth Girls Exhibition Match

Yarra Junior Football League have continued to do their bit in developing and supporting women’s football. In a bye week for the home and away season, some girls still got in a game of footy on a sunny Sunday morning at Bulleen Oval.  And it was a cracker.

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Youth Girls’ coaches from across YJFL each nominated up to five players, who formed two squads to play in an under 18 exhibition match. After some initially scrappy footy, perhaps to be expected with squads who had only trained together twice before the match, the players found their feet and each other and put on a nice display of their skills. The Blacks got into gear first, playing an old-school long kicking and contested marking game. It paid dividends early, with lots of Inside 50s kicking with the swirling breeze in the first quarter. The defending Greys did not let them have it all their own way though. The quarter ended with Blacks up by a goal, 2.1.13 to 1.1.7

The Greys came out hard in the second quarter, with a running and hand-balling mid-field getting them back into the game, leveling the half-time score at 2.2.14 all.

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I didn’t keep stats, but I think the Blacks were winning contested marks, the Greys loose ball gets. Clearances and tackles were pretty even.

Third quarter both team’s defenders keep fierce pressure on the forwards, and although the Blacks probably had more inside 50s, neither team could find more than a point. 2.3.15 all.

Coaches from both teams urged the girls to go hard for the last quarter and to remember to have some fun. The Blacks threatened on several occasions, but each time the Greys’ backs managed to win the ball, on at least two occasions with marks deep in the goal square. Both teams attacked repeatedly, along both boundaries and straight down the middle, but in the end it was the Greys who found the big sticks. Their attacks started with long kicks out of defence and tenacious running through mid-field traffic to get the ball forward. The Greys added two goals, keeping the Blacks scoreless in the quarter, to come out winners for the Youth Girls Challenge Cup.

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Others may be able to help with names, a challenge of an exhibition game, but there were many impressive players on both sides. For me, numbers 29 (in the ruck and around the ground), 86 and 87 were the pick of a strong Black group.  For the Greys, numbers 3, 7 and 9 were the picks.

I think this is a great development from the league, and I hope we get more chances to see the best of our Youth Girls’ players on display.

Final score YJFL Greys 4.4.28 def YJFL Blacks 2.3.15

Comments

  1. Adelaide Dupont says

    Well done the Blacks and the Greys.

    And the Yarra Youth Girls league in general.

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