Dragons hold firm in Gisborne while Magpies break drought

SANDHURST midcourter Meg Williams has praised the Dragons for holding their nerve in a tense final term and scoring a crucial win over fellow BFNL A-grade premiership aspirant Gisborne last Saturday.

Protecting a three-goal lead going into the last quarter at Gardiner Reserve, the Dragons remained steadfast under pressure, never surrendering the lead in a 44-40 triumph.

Their sixth win of the season gave the second-placed Dragons a one-game advantage over the Bulldogs, who fell to 5-2.

The move of two-time Betty Thompson medallist Heather Oliver from defence into goal attack in the last quarter paid huge dividends.

“She just looked like a natural goaler,” Williams said of Oliver, who has played predominantly in defence this season.

“You sometimes forget she’s that real wildcard you can throw in at both ends.

“(She’s) such an athlete and just in those high-pressure situations, she’s so strong with her body.

“The balls she was getting were incredible.

“It’s a real luxury having her in your team. We’re very lucky.”

Confident the Dragons would validate their early good work by holding on, Williams paid full credit to Gisborne for a tough challenge.

“It’s always a tight contest against Gisborne, especially down there. It always seems a bit harder playing down there,” she said.

“I felt we were in control for a lot of the game and probably could have capitalised a bit more on the chances we had.

“But to come away with a four-goal win was awesome and pretty timely.”

At 6-1, with exciting fresh talent in Claire McGee and Harriett Whiteacre making their mark and star defender Ruby Turner due back later in the season following her SSN Reserves commitment with Vixens Academy, Williams believed the Dragons were well placed in their season.

“It’s so exciting having Harriet and Claire coming through as the younger ones stepping up,” she said.

“We’ve been lucky that we have always had such a great junior program, but seeing the girls now coming through and step up in those big games is amazing.

“Harriett was incredible (on Saturday). You can’t help but sit back and think this is just the start of her and her journey.

“We’ve got great versatility as well. It’s so nice to have the flexibility we do.

“It’s more of a squad now; we haven’t had as many in A-grade in past years.

“A-res are doing nice things too, with a lot of younger girls coming through.

“It’s a really great time in our club where the girls are getting a chance to develop and provide something fresh.”

Bulldogs coach Tarryn Rymer said her side was left to rue costly turnovers at crucial times.

“I can’t fault the effort, but we just turned over a lot of ball and gave up a lot of possession we shouldn’t have,” she said.

 

“Going into the last quarter, even though we were three goals down, I thought we’d given ourselves every chance to get over the line.

“Even with a minute and a half to go, we were down by only two.

“We’d won so much ball, but just turned it over.”

Rymer also pinpointed the move of Oliver into goal attack for Sandhurst in the final term as a key one.

Critically for the Bulldogs, who slipped to third spot at 5-2, they scored just one goal from turnovers all game.

Torie Skrijel led the charge for the Bulldogs, giving them a strong presence in the goal circle.

Elsewhere, Castlemaine claimed its first win of the season with a 57-43 win over Broadford at Camp Reserve.

The 14-goal victory was the Magpies’ first in the top tier since round 2 of the 2024 season when they defeated South Bendigo 41-27.

Castlemaine did not field a side in A-grade last season.

Magpies coach Vanessa Saunders, who missed the game due to a family commitment, hailed the win as a reward for her players’ perseverance and commitment throughout the first part of the season.

“We have lots to work on, but the girls were able to execute on what we’ve been doing at training and lift,” she said.

“We made some changes as we have been doing all season and it was nice to see them come off.

“We’re very realistic about where we are at. We now have an A-grade side – it’s not a Kangaroo Flat side – but we have a team and we’re not filling it in with juniors. We are going to keep working hard and keep developing.

“We haven’t been able to find that extra gear, but they did (on Saturday).”

At Tannery Lane, Strathfieldsaye won a key contest in the battle for fifth spot, outlasting Golden Square for a 55-47 victory.

The Storm led by three goals at both half-time and three-quarter-time, capping off their hard work with a decisive 14-9 final term.

With Eaglehawk on the bye, Strathfieldsaye moved two games clear in fifth spot of the Hawks (sixth) and Golden Square (eighth), with Castlemaine a further game behind.

At Harry Trott Oval, Kangaroo Flat posted its seventh straight win of the season in an 81-48 win over South Bendigo.

The Roos led by six goals at quarter-time before fully asserting their authority on the contest with a devastating 26-8 second quarter.

Their current winning streak now stands at 23 games.

The Roos will complete their first-round commitments this Saturday against Strathfieldsaye, while South Bendigo has the bye.

In other round 9 games, Golden Square hosts Gisborne at Wade Street, Sandhurst clashes with Castlemaine at the QEO and Eaglehawk returns to action at Broadford.

Meanwhile, Broadford’s B-grade team became the club’s first to register a win since joining the BFNL competition this year.

The Kangaroos defeated Castlemaine 62-43.