Sport
28 August, 2023
Sweet revenge for preliminary final exit as Avoca defeat Natte Bealiba
Avoca fired a significant warning shot that they’re relishing being the hunter instead of the hunted, overrunning Natte Bealiba on Saturday at Newstead to win by five goals to earn a week off. Natte Bealiba had the recent wood over the Dogs...
Avoca fired a significant warning shot that they’re relishing being the hunter instead of the hunted, overrunning Natte Bealiba on Saturday at Newstead to win by five goals to earn a week off.
Natte Bealiba had the recent wood over the Dogs, winning their last two matches, including, famously, their preliminary final last year which helped deliver them their first premiership in 11 years.
It looked like a repeat of their preliminary final performance again in the first quarter, with the Swans dominating general play for a large part of the term to open up a five-goal cushion early on, having scored 17 goals to 12.
However, while the second quarter in that preliminary final was Avoca’s undoing, this time around, it was the critical quarter of the day for the Bulldogs, as they started to take control throughout, with Maddy Egan and Gina Beavis doing the rest. They combined for 17 goals, while holding Natte to just nine, as they took a three-goal lead into the main break.
The third term was a battle, but with Egan continuing to lead in outstanding fashion from the front, the Bulldogs were able to extend their lead, scoring 15 goals for the quarter, while Keisha Tonzing and Caitlin Drummond were putting significant pressure on Natte goalscorers Emma Ryan and Shannae Mills, as they could only convert 12 goals from 19 opportunities.
The last quarter saw Natte do everything in their power to reduce the gap, scoring 14 goals, but Avoca was doing enough, scoring 13 to eventually record the win.
Egan was outstanding, scoring 40 goals, with Beavis adding 17, while for Natte,Ryan scored 42 goals, with Mills adding 10.
Avoca co-coach Kerry Egan said she was elated to score victory in such a high-pressure situation.
“It’s really good. The girls brought it all together on the day, and it was good to see them click at the same time,” she said.
While Avoca enjoyed a fast start in their earlier meeting with the Swans this season, Kerry said it was more of an outlier as the Bulldogs normally made slower starts, which was again the case on Saturday. Yet they were able to respond with the blowtorch on them.
“Our girls often have a bit of a slow start, but we got around one another, had lots of praise and confidence after that. We were five down, and finished five up, so it was a 10-goal turnaround, which was fantastic,” she said.
“It gives us a good chance now, we had a couple of niggling injuries. We didn’t have a full team the first time we played Natte, and it was good to get it all together now.”
Kerry praised the defensive trio, which consisted of best and fairest winner Elisa Pica, Drummond and new signing Tonzing, who joined over the last handful of games to provide the Bulldogs with another significant option in defence.
It will be business as usual for the Bulldogs, who are desperate to reclaim the spot on the throne they claimed in 2019, only to fall at the second-last hurdle last year.