Ducks shoot for glory

‘Nothing to lose’ takes pressure off back-to-back quest

DEAKIN Ducks coach Hannah Gordon is adamant her team will not be cocky going into tomorrow’s grand final with Barwon, set up by last week’s upset win in the Geelong Region Women’s Division 1 semi final.

Fourth-placed Barwon stunned the competition with a 3-2 triumph over the previously undefeated league champion Drysdale.

“Even though Drysdale was at the top of the leader’s board all season and remained undefeated in the regular part of the season, Barwon has always been a team to pull out all the stops when it counts and they certainly did do that against Drysdale last week,” said the league’s golden boot winner, who has scored 35 goals in league competition this season.

“We will certainly not be underestimating them in the slightest, going into this weekend’s grand final at Stead Park.”

The Ducks have also gone through the season undefeated and will be looking to make it back-to-back grand final triumphs after overcoming Drysdale in last year’s season decider.

Standing in their way will be the team that itself took out the grand final two years ago, at the same venue.

“One of the key factors why we beat Drysdale last week was that we had absolutely nothing to lose,” admitted Barwon captain Alyse Cook.

“There was no pressure on us and we were able to head out on to the pitch with no expectations, just the burning desire to play the best game possible.

“That no added pressure and no expectation element has already proven dangerous for our opponents this year and against Deakin we will be going in once again with nothing to lose.”