BUFFETTES DO A LITTLE BIT EXTRA
Darwin had to fight hard to get the better of the 2021 premier, Nathaniel Chambers reports
DARWIN Buffettes dug deep to eke out a tight extra-time 2.6 (18) to 2.3 (15) win over a fast-starting PINT in the women’s qualifying final.
PINT had the start it was looking for, dominating possession and applying pressure to put the Buffettes on the back foot early.
And that dominance paid dividends for the Queenants whose quick disposals saw a couple of quick goals go the way of Jordyn NichollsRamirez and Casey Morris.
Amy Chittick, playing her 150th NTFL match, and Reni Hicks were busy across the midfield, throwing themselves into every contest and looking to smother the ball whenever possible.
The Buffettes, as they have proved all season, are never out of the contest for long and as soon as they were able to put some possessions together they were back in the game.
Young gun Freda Wosomo was her usual dangerous self.
Tayla Hart-Aluni had more than one pivotal disposal and on the chime of quarter time Janna Ransome put a goal through.
The scoring slowed down from there with neither side yielding any clear-cut possessions in front of their goalsquare.
It was, however, the Buffettes who seemed to have the better momentum with Molly Althouse and Jemma Iacono delivering more than one crunching tackle to their opposition.
Hart-Aluni’s runs continued to be destructive in the wet conditions and she kicked the pivotal goal in the third quarter, feeding off a handball from captain Kylie Duggan.
But neither side could convert that advantage into anything concrete come full time and were forced into an extra time contest.
It was there that the fitness of the Buffettes shone most, as they gathered a couple of extra points to see themselves through to a win over the reigning premiers.
Skipper Duggan said there was a sense of relief among the team.
“We had a slow start to the game and to play the extra time that we did was really tough on the body,” Duggan said.
“The girls dug deep to get there in the end and I couldn’t be prouder of the team as a whole and I’m really proud of their efforts.
“They made it a faster paced game and we were behind for most the game, but we kept up after and we need to make sure that we start like that from the get-go going forward.
“We wanted to come away with the win and we did just that.
“We want to get to that grand final so know we have to dig even deeper again next week.”
The Buffettes will face the Nightcliff Tigers next week with the winner there set to move straight into the grand final.