This week Strathalbyn hosted Round 7. There had been some welcome rain on Saturday so the oval was a little soggy early but looked in great condition. Sixteen Strath girls combined with 9 from Yankalilla playing against McLaren and Mt Compass combined. It made for some congested footy at times but when the ball did come out of the rolling maul there was space for girls to run and use their pace. We had 7 girls playing up with the U17’s so they all played 2 or 3 quarters and then went and warmed up with the older girls. This meant the other girls took more key positions where they all excelled. We even played the last quarter with one less player but it wasn’t noticeable. Its a credit to the depth and talent of the Strath girls that they can step up when required. This was also very evident in the U17 game where none of the U14’s looked out of place. With one goal to Millie and a couple to one of the Yank girls, the combined Reds won the game with continued pressure in the forward lines bringing opportunities for goals. Final score was “roughly” 3:5 to 2:0. I’ve been encouraging the girls to play on whenever they can (except right in front of goal!) and it was great to see more of this happening. One who excelled at this on Sunday was Caitlyn who played her best game of footy yet; a deserving winner of our Best Player this week (donated by Country Canines Mobile Dog Wash). Lastly, a big thankyou to the Mums who gave up part of their Mothers Day to come and cheer on their Daughters. Thanks especially to Natasha for Team Managing as she does every week!

With ANZAC day on Sunday this year, the girls matches this week are a bit all over the place. The U17 girls played at home under lights against Yankalilla, with both teams lining up pre-game for the Last Post and the National Anthem to honor the ANZAC’s.
The Strath girls played a great style of team footy right from the first bounce. Solid attacking footy, lots of run and voice amongst the team carried through to 3 goals being scored to Yanks none in the first quarter. Amber Grove was dominating in the ruck and gave her centre players the first opportunity at many contests.
Lilli Mitchell gave the side plenty of run and drive and created many opportunities for the forwards to capitalise, while Ruby McBeath was collecting possessions in all corners of the ground. Willow Rose was the focal point up forward and made the most of the hard work from her team-mates through the middle. Charlotte Walsh was solid in defence, working hard all game.
Strath kicked another 5 goals for the match in a consistent display of team footy, running out winners 8.3 to Yanks 3.1.
There were nine U14 players who stepped up and none of them looked out of place playing with the older age group.
The girls now have a small weekly Best Player award donated by Country Canines Mobile Dog Wash and Grooming and the deserving winner this week was Ruby, backing up her great work in the centre by making good position in the forward-lines to also kick 4 goals.