The Wollongong Saints booked a date with destiny by grinding out a tough 28-point win over the Penrith Ramettes in the Sydney Women’s AFL division two preliminary final on a soggy Henson Park last Saturday afternoon.
The victory sets up a mouth-watering grand final clash with the undefeated Southern Power in a rematch of their epic qualifying semifinal battle.
Precocious full forward Kate Stanton was at the forefront for the Saints, bagging four majors in a polished display that showed why she is the competition’s leading scorer. She was ably supported by Shannyn Everingham-Geary who also racked up a hat-trick of six pointers.
The physical encounter featured a trademark slow start from Wollongong who went to the first break trailing by two points.
In stark contrast, the Saints clicked into overdrive in the second term in a bedazzling quarter that laid the platform for their win.
The girls in sky blue racked up 28 unanswered points on the back of some crisp ball movement and deft finishing to go to the long break with a 26-point ascendency.
Penrith were not about to hoist the white flag and made up valuable ground in a dour third term, outscoring Wollongong by 15 points to two and ensuring that Wollongong coach Shane Grenfell still had to keep the heart pills handy.
However it was to be the last points that the Rammettes would score as the Saints sealed the win by keeping their opponents scoreless for the second full quarter of the match and adding 15 points of their own.
An often rugged final two stanzas saw plenty of play in the middle third of Henson Park with youngsters Kimberly Chan and Nicola Kennedy getting through a mountain of work.
Affable Wollongong defender Casey Moane left her mark on the game, going to extraordinary lengths to thwart any hopes of a successful Penrith shot on goal.
The perennial toil of ubiquitous rucking duo Laura Russell and Ellen Crewdson was also a key factor in the Sainters out-muscling Penrith in a tough second half arm wrestle.
Next weekend’s Grand Final will take place at 10am on Sunday at Blacktown International Sportspark.
Wollongong Saints 8-9:57 (Kate Stanton 4, Shannyn Everingham-Geary 3, Kimberly Chan goals) def. Penrith Ramettes 4-5:29 (Nikki Perrett, Melissa Brydon, Jasmin Payne, Jessie Burnham goals)
Last Modified on 03/09/2014 11:49