Victory proves oh, so sweet

DARWIN Buffettes have achieved sweet redemption, pushing aside Nightcliff by 18 points in the Women’s Premier League grand final.

In blazing conditions, the Buffettes avenged an 11-point loss to PINT in last season’s final decider.

After Tiger skipper Eliza Morrison kicked the opening major from the goalsquare within minutes of the start, the “Tigals” couldn’t muster another inside 50 for the rest of the quarter as the Buffettes dominated play on Saturday afternoon.

The Nightcliff defence was under continuous pressure as the Buffs strung together repeat entries.

Dominique Carbone, returning from VFLW duties with Hawthorn, Tikesa Docherty-Cole and the speedy Tayla Hart-Aluni were in the thick of the action and gathered influential touches.

The latter danced around a couple of defenders before spotting Carbone for the Buffettes’ first.

Then, a penalty and a 50m extension allowed her to slot the team’s second to give Darwin an early buffer.

The Buffs’ skills were cleaner and their relentless pressure caused some Nightcliff players to commit basic errors in a shaky first half.

Darwin managed to keep the ball locked inside its forward 50 for extended periods in the second term but without getting any reward on the scoreboard.

Then, suddenly, the window opened ever so slightly for Nightcliff, who lost Sophie Hatzismalis through injury.

Against the flow of play, Gwynne Medal winner Molly Althouse overstepped the mark, which took Katrina Simmons from the middle of the ground to the goalsquare’s edge for a much-needed Tiger rebuttal.

The Nightcliff defence continued to toil in the heat, with a desperate smother from Morrison stopping a certain Johanna Gregory goal.

But in a clear halftime highlight, Ebony Miller snapped a brilliant goal to increase the margin and knock the stuffing out of an unlikely Tiger revival.

As the heat, and tiredness enveloped the players, Carbone’s second major appeared to put the game beyond a Nightcliff team which never really got into the contest.