The big guns of the 2022 Veolia Limestone Coast Women’s Football League flexed their muscles in the second round of the season last weekend.
Across two days of action, the top teams did not give their opponents an inch with the smallest margin of victory 44 points.
That was the only game decided by less than 100 points as some of the premiership contenders showed no mercy to their rivals.
The tightest and most watchable game was played between North Gambier and Casterton Sandford where the Cats spoiled the Tigers’ Friday-night party at Vansittart Park.
After being denied the chance to host the opening round, North enjoyed the chance to host some Friday night football, but it was overshadowed by a resurgent Casterton Sandford outfit.
The Cats learnt their lesson from round 1 and converted on their fast start.
Fronted by Carlie Smith and Gabrielle Sullivan, the blue and white hoops dominated possession and compiled 22 points on the scoreboard, while the yellow and black did not get a look in.
Despite the slow start, the Tigers regained some control to slow the bleeding, conceding just five behinds across the second and third terms.
But once the players emerged from their huddles after three-quarter time, the Cats were back to their best producing plenty of chances to ice the 44-point win.
After also enjoying a fast start against Penola, only to throw it away, Casterton Sandford coach Pete Hutchins was rapt to sing the song for the first time in 2022.
“The way the team responded to the Penola defeat was amazing,” he said.
“We went over a few things and tried to implement a little bit more structure in our backline to hold the ball in and place more pressure in the opposition, so they do not run out of the stoppages like Penola.
“The girls set up really well on Friday night and repelled any attack because North only had about five inside 50’s for the entire game.
“We held our structure which made it tough for North.”
Hutchins said the win was established in the opening passages of play where the Cats went on the front foot scored half of their eventual score as the Tigers applied the brakes in the middle part of the game.
“You try in any game to get a good start in those first 10 minutes which are always important,” he said.
“We tried to set the tone and start fast because even when we had a little lull, we still had out nose in front.
“During the second and third terms there were a lot of numbers around the ball because North threw almost all of their numbers down back.
“But once we started moving the ball a bit better, we opened the game up again finding the outlet out back.
“Scarlett Jarrad, Georgia McPeake and Gabrielle Sullivan had their run on, while our back half were also creating space to break it open and Chloe Foster was amazing.”
Casterton Sandford is now bracing itself for its biggest challenge of the year coming up against the mighty Kybybolite which is fresh from a weekend off.
Hutchins said the keys will be to capitalise on all scoring chances.
“Kyby like to run the ball too, so we could try to play contested footy or attempt to beat them at their own game,” he said.
“But we scored about 14 behinds and had plenty of chances to kick a good score, so we will work hard at training on our composure because you cannot afford to kick that many against a good side.
“If we tidy a few of those things up, we could have kicked 10-plus goals and when you do that you go a long way to winning games of footy.”
Penola set the tone for the round by thumping Kalangadoo under the setting sun at Vanisttart Park.
The Eagles soared from the blocks scoring 60 points to six in the first half with the usual suspects doing their thing.
The Magpies were not allowed to score after half time as Penola cruised to a 115-point triumph.
Angela Broad put her hand up for the leading goal-kicker award booting seven majors, while Simone MacDonald made an impact in her new nest scoring a quartet.
By the time Sunday morning rolled around at Blue Lake Sports Park, the desire to score percentage-boosting victories had never been higher.
Mundulla opened its account for 2022 in devastating fashion, destroying Millicent 163 to zero.
The team unveiled its headline recruit Kaylene Nuske and she did not mess around leading the charge.
She was the driving force behind the countless number of forward-50 entries, while Casey McElroy, Natalie Twigden and Kellsie Turner also had plenty of fun.
The likes of Kalli Brown and Lilly Hateley showed some fight for the Saints on a scoreless morning.
It set the stage for South Gambier to keep going from strength to strength and put another huge win under its belt with Kongorong its latest victim.
After scoring just 18 points in the first term, the Demons hit top gear in the second quarter flying to a 74-point lead by the main break.
As South went on to compile 157 points, Alice Tentye was the star, who kept the scorers busy booting a bag of five.
The young Hawks side may have been overwhelmed, but Tiia Pelkonen and Sarah Lucas showed some grit.
