Saints bounce back

Skipper full of praise as St Mary’s packs on pressure to crush Tigers

ST MARY’S skipper Tahley Houghton lauded her inexperienced side after it bounced back from last week’s loss to smash undermanned Grovedale at Anthony Costa Oval yesterday.

It was an uphill battle from the start for the Tigers, who were missing six players due to illness and injury.

The Saints poured on the pressure from the beginning, dominating the scoreboard and displaying terrific defence to hold the Tigers goalless in the 13.14 (92) to 0.2 (2) win.

Proven goalkicker Ashleigh Bond booted three majors for the Saints, while Annie Haigh, Amy Butterworth, Jady Brkic and Ella Cook chimed in with two each.

“We just came out to prove ourselves, especially after last week. A lot of the girls haven’t played football before and Grovedale is still a hard team to face and it didn’t reflect on the scoreboard, so getting back on the winners’ list was great,” Houghton said.

She said the keys to the message-sending win were the way her side was able to create multiple scoring opportunities through its work up the ground, as well as applying constant pressure.

“The spread we were able to create from the backline and midfield, we didn’t really focus on that last week. I think we were a bit rushed with everything, our tackling also was really on today,” Houghton said.

She also was pleased with the way her side responded after its close loss to powerhouse North Geelong last week.

“How the girls picked themselves up after a brutal game last week, for them to remain positive and continue to attack the ball and apply pressure was awesome and I’m super proud of them for that,” she said.

Winger Breanna Beckley, Kelsey Houghton and Brydie Dwyer were among the standouts for the Saints in a great team performance.

Grovedale coach Ben O’Regan praised the Tigers’ effort with their depleted lineup, and said he was proud to coach all of them.

“I couldn’t be prouder, to coach this group from their infancy to now is probably the proudest coaching highlight for me,” O’Regan said.

“To be able to battle it out especially without a bench, being proud is an understatement.”

O’Regan felt the Tigers identified some issues to stem the flow but broke down because of their lack of rotations on the bench due to injury, which included a possible achilles tendon and multiple concussions to players.

“None of the girls are irreplaceable, but none of them are replaceable, so it will be great to have more numbers to come back in,” he said.

Jenny Male, Lauren Bell and Caitlin Shiell stood tall for the Tigers. A. Bond 3, A. Haigh 2, A. Butterworth 2, J. Brkic 2, E. Cook 2, B. Dwyer, K. Houghton K. Houghton, H. Rowe, R. O’Loughlin, B. Dwyer, B. Beckley J. Male, C. Shiell, L. Bell, L. French, M. Powell, S. Robinson