GEELONG Falcons won’t get the chance to defend their NAB League Girls premiership after suffering a 35-point loss to Calder Cannons in Saturday’s semi-final at Dandenong’s Shepley Oval, 7.4 (46) to 1.5 (11).
Coach Jason Armistead says his players were “shattered” by the loss – just the third in the 25 matches the club has played since the under-18 competition for girls was introduced in 2017.
“They were shattered for each other. They’ve put in so much work for the season, and they probably felt like they let each other down,” he said.
“From our (the coaches) point-of-view it was far from that. They’ve been amazing all year.
“We’re really proud of the way they’ve gone about the whole season, and it was just disappointing to finish that way.
“But that’s football, isn’t it?”
NAB LEAGUE BOYS: FALCONS NO MATCH FOR JETS
The Falcons’ habit of making slow starts to games came back to bite them at the most inopportune time, with the Cannons kicking three opening quarter goals to stake an early claim on a berth in next week’s grand final.
“We’ve been pretty poor starters in games, and it looked like it again early on,” Armistead said.
“They kicked an early one, and being three goals down at quarter time’s not ideal.
“It wasn’t a great start by us again, and that was probably the difference at the end of the day.”
Armistead says the Cannons were strong around the ball throughout the day.
“They gave us no time and space at all,” he said.
“Every time we did win the footy it was under pressure, which meant we didn’t get to deliver it to our forwards very well.
“And when they won it, they got on the outside of us and delivered the footy pretty clean.”
The loss brings an end to the Falcons career of the likes of captain Lucy McEvoy, Abbey Chapman, Paige Sheppard, Luka Lesosky-Hay and Kaitlyn Haustorfer, who were part of the inaugural squad in 2017.
Calder will meet the Northern Knights, who defeated Eastern Ranges in the other semi-final,in Saturday’s grand final at Princes Park in Carlton.
Twitter: @tom_king79
CALDER CANNONS 3.2, 4.3, 5.3, 7.4 (46)
GEELONG FALCONS 0.0, 1.2, 1.4, 1.5 (11)
Goals: Calder Cannons: Z. Hardiman 2, A. Magri, E. Yassir, G. Prespakis, A. Barba, M. Muller
Geelong Falcons: M. Skinner
Best: Calder: E. Yassir, G. Sampson, G. Prespakis, G. Patrikios, K. Lennox, A. Barba
Geelong Falcons: L. McEvoy, A. Chapman, R. Tierney, P. Schaap, G. Featherston, L. Lesosky-Hay
