Sport
14 April, 2026
Tigers claw down Giants in 15-goal win
The revamped Lexton Tigers outlasted the Maryborough Giants in an early skirmish between two premiership hopefuls, ending their season-opener with a 50-35 victory.
Following Leesa Donhardt’s departure, as well as Rachel Phelan’s unavailability and Kristy Hadler captaining B grade, 2025 17 and under MCDFNL best and fairest Charlize Kennedy was the focal point of the Tigers’ offence.
Despite the added responsibility, Kennedy flourished with 40 goals in a hard-fought defensive affair to help Lexton prevail.
In an immediate showing of belief in their next generation, 2025 17 and under premiership players Bridget Allan and Kayley Walhouse started at goal attack and wing attack respectively, hoping to provide the Giants an offensive boost following the departure of premiership teammate Lacey Broad.
Eliza Bell, Shanae Hepworth and player-coach Cindy Teggerth made an immediate impact on debut in Lexton’s defence anchored by Sarah Griffin, only conceding eight goals from Allan and Laura McStravick in the first 15 minutes.
Thirteen first-quarter goals from the young gun tandem of Kennedy and former Ararat junior Stella Alexander-Foster gave Lexton a five-goal buffer at quarter time.
Both teams only made slight tweaks to their game plan heading into the second quarter, with Teggerth staying at wing defence while Bell and Hepworth shared duties at goal defence.
Meanwhile, the Giants looked to keep their midcourt fresh and energised against the likes of Caitlin Howell and Darci Berry by bringing Jessie Tolson off the bench to play wing attack and have Walhouse split time at centre with the experienced Alisha Hovey.
The Giants improved on both sides of the floor throughout the second quarter, but they were unable to reflect those strides onto the scoreboard, as Lexton maintained their five-goal advantage to conclude the first half.
With her team looking to cut down their narrow deficit during the third quarter, Riahni Egan was out-standing after the half time interval, covering virtually every inch of the Giants’ defensive third and conjuring some exceptional intercepts.
However, several careless giveaways meant the Giants were unable to capitalise on Egan’s turnovers.
Those uncharacteristic mistakes allowed Lexton to keep a 35-28 lead heading into the fourth quarter, where Kennedy caught fire as the Giants ran out of steam late.
With the assistance of some tasty feeds from Howell and Bell, Kennedy ended with a game-high 40 goals in the 15-goal win alongside the emerging Alexander-Foster, who scored 10.
Giants player-coach McStravick fought hard in defeat, leading her team with 20 goals from 28 attempts as she showed great chemistry with Allan, who ended up making 15.