AFL London Women’s Premier Division GRAND FINAL
North London Lions: 1. 4 10
Wandsworth Demons: 1. 0 6
Goals: Steph Filbay 1
Best: Steph Filbay (league medal), Pauline O'Malley, Emily Warrick, Kylie Russo (just to name a few!)
Th mke Lionesses started a bit slowly, and if it wasn’t for a determined back 6 we could have been down by a goal or 2 early on, however the girls rallied and by quarter time had wrestled back the momentum.
Although controlling the last 5 minutes of the 1st, we went in with a nil all draw, not a bad result really. Worryingly, one of our back 6, Kate Franklin, who had gone into ‘beast mode’ collided heads and came off with concussion, an egg and an already blackened eye. She took no further part in the game.
Coach Dogg implored the girls to stay the course, and reminded them that they had another gear or 2 to go. They agreed, and for the remainder of the game they controlled the game with hardness at the footy, good marking skills and a dangerous forward line.
Unfortunately, we could only manage 1 point in the 2nd quarter (Demons had none) and 3 points in the 3rd (again, Demons were zero). But the cup was within reach…
So at 3 quarter time, up by 4 points, a massive crowd (including Hawks and Swans supporters!) gathered around the girls and helped pump them up. It worked! After again dominating general play, the players were finally rewarded on the scoreboard with a big goal, from eventual BOG, Steph Filbay. The crowd went wild!
With around 8 minutes to go, it was ours to lose. While the Demons caused some nervous thoughts by snagging a goal, we managed to hang on, once again by controlling the footy and slowing the play down. Some big marks across the ground allowed us to keep the footy out of the Demon’s forward line. Once the siren went there was a mix of relief and sheer jubilation!
Cue the prosecco and celebration.
For pics from the day please see our Facebook page here .