Felines Under 17 Captain Ava Loughnan clears the ball as sister Hannah in the background shepherds. Photos: Simon Ginns.
On a very nice day conducive to playing fantastic football, the Murray Felines hosted the Wodonga Bulldogs at Barkly Park on Mother’s Day.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
The oval and the surrounds were in great condition for the game.
The Wodonga Bulldogs are a relatively new club to female football and so they have an under 14 team and they are fielding an under 17 team for the first time. The open team had a bye for the weekend.
The former state member of Ovens Valley, Ken Jasper came down to Barkly Park to meet the teams and was very impressed with the number of girls playing football and their skill level that they displayed.
Under 14 team
The Wodonga Bulldogs got off to a good start which set the tone for the remainder of the match. They were slightly more fluent at picking the ball up and being able to get out in the open to run the ball. As a result, they dominated the time spent in their forward half and consistently added to their score.
The second half saw a much better team game form the Felines and they were able to put together some very good passages of play, running and linking possessions from the back line to the forward 50m. On many occasions the team had some good opportunities to kick goals, but they goals proved elusive for the whole match.
Violet Fisher had a consistent game including some great smothers defending the goals. Ashlyn Willett some into the game in the second half and Abbey Ibrahim was consistently good all day.
Under 17 team
Under 17 team captains Depa Rai (Wodonga Bulldogs), Ava Loughnan and Josephine Muscat (Murray Felines) pictured with local identity Ken Jasper AM who tossed the coin before the match.
The match was a reverse of the Under 14 team, where the Felines jumped the start and kicked a goal within the first minute of the game. As always, the midfield players were great with their running and weaving out of packs.
Georgia Thomas sends her mum a special message for Mother’s Day after kicking one of her goals. Photo: Simon Ginns.
Ava Loughnan was best on ground and her ability to steal the ball out of a pack and runaway is outstanding. One day when she has her goal kicking boots on, Ava will end up with kicking 6 goals all of them running through the 50m arc.
Ali Jackson was again solid in the midfield.
Paige Duffy had a great game in the ruck and consistently took the opposition on with her running. In all, the midfield players performed extremely well and the coach, Brad Nicholson was delighted with how they played together.
Up front, Olivia Cheeseman and Georgia Thomas provided good targets, and both took a number of solid marks in the forward line. Olivia Cheeseman showed some much-needed goal sense and kicked a number of goals threading the ball through the pack in the goal square. Hannah Loughnan also had a solid game in the forward line and is always happy to present for the ball and weave herself out of trouble
Hannah Loughnan spins around on her left foot.
The Felines finished the game easy 92-point winners against an improving Wodonga team
Post Match
The Felines hosted a Mother’s Day high tea and raffle after the game which was well supported. Special thanks to Nadine Nicholson for organising the event.
Paige Duffy was outstanding all game.
The Under 17 Murray Felines dominated in the midfield all game.
Sophie Kelly provides a strong tackle on her Wodonga Bulldogs opponent.
Best on ground, Ava Loughnan clears the ball out of the centre.
18°C