Hatherleigh continued its unblemished inaugural Limestone Coast Women’s Football under 16 season – taking out the grand final on Friday night.

Hatherleigh and North Gambier were primed and ready to go at Vansittart Park, where the stage was set under a beautiful night sky.

The Tigers were up and about early with plenty of run and great tackling, while Hatherleigh looked a little flat footed after not playing the week before.

The Tigers’ Luca Roulstone was a true leader in the opening three minutes of the first quarter, constantly gathering possessions and giving her teammates every opportunity to also get the ball, while Hatherleigh’s Eadie Easterby used her height and strength to repel the opposition attack.

Chloe Bellinger showed her class, picking up possessions for Hatherleigh and controlling the play.

Both teams peppered their forward lines on numerous occasions, but the defence worked hard with plenty of contested ball to keep it away from the goals.

It was an extremely tight first term with both sides trying to work out each other’s strategies while maintaining their game plans.

After the first quarter of 12 minutes the score reflected the intense battle with Hatherleigh only scoring a behind to hold the lead.

The second term started much the same as the first with the Tigers taking full control of the game but the battle in the middle between the Tigers’ Penny Coleman and Hatherleigh’s Easterby was heating up, with Easterby starting to take control of the taps to give her teammates first use of the ball.

But that was stopped very quickly by Roulstone for the Tigers with her fast pace run and exceptional ball skills.

Hatherleigh started to gain some momentum and looked to take back control while the Tigers, although still playing well, appeared to be growing weary in the legs, but refused to give up the ball and continued to make Hatherleigh work hard.

It was still Easterby, Chloe Bellinger and Hannah Bellinger giving plenty of run across the ground for Hatherleigh but they had to contend with Roulstone , Eadie Mustart and Jasmyn Plew-Jones for the Tigers.

Although the scoring was still low both teams kicked one goal each but the competition leader in Hatherleigh maintained the lead by two points at the half-time break.

Although the contest was tight the large crowd that were in attendance were in for a real treat of women’s football.

The Tigers’ Coleman opened the third term with determination, getting the ball to Roulstone out of the middle in a clear passage of play to attack the goals, only for it to be sent straight back.

Hatherleigh’s Amber Chester was starting to come into the game along with Jeda Hibberd while Grace Altschwager and Skye Virtanen worked hard for the Tigers.

Hatherleigh were starting to get on top, while the Tigers squandered their chances to score through minor skill errors.

At the final change Hatherleigh had managed only two behinds, keeping the Tigers scoreless to retain a lead of four points.

Both sides gave it their all in the last quarter of the 2022 season with brilliant patches of play and neither willing to give an inch either across the wide-open spaces of Vansittart Park.

The Tigers were on the hunt for the premiership and attacked the ball and the play while Hatherleigh had other ideas.

Hatherleigh’s trio of Easterby, Chloe Bellinger and Hannah Belinger pulled out all stops and their work rate was immense, gathering the ball on numerous occasions.

The Tigers were still in with a sniff as Roulstone, Plew-Jones and Heidi Berkin also lifted.

But Hatherleigh had just done enough to get over the line to claim the 2022 premiership in their first year of the competition by three points, pushed all the way by a very gallant Tigers outfit.

Easterby was named best on ground, ably supported by Chloe Bellinger, Hannah Bellinger and Chester, while for the runners up Roulstone , Plew-Jones, Berkin and Mustart stood tall.

Hatherleigh coach Laura Chester was thrilled with the result.

“We went into this game knowing they certainly would have done their homework on us and beating them twice this season would have meant nothing and that really showed in the game,” she said.

“They really did put us on the back foot a little bit and the girls stuck to it which was really good.

“Also, the girls really got around each other which was good, and we got the result that we were after so I’m incredibly happy.”