Square tackles Hawks in preliminary final

GOLDEN Square takes on Eaglehawk in tonight’s Champions IGA-backed CVFL senior women’s footy preliminary final in Bendigo.

The Bulldogs and Hawks will play at Queen Elizabeth Oval in View Street from 7.30pm.

For the winner it’s a grand final showdown with Castlemaine on 5 September.

Defeat spells the end of the season.

Semi-finals for the CVFL senior women’s and under-18 girls competitions were played last Sunday at Castlemaine’s Camp Reserve.

In pursuit of a fourth consecutive premiership, Castlemaine won the second semi-final against Golden Square by 35 points.

A rematch of the 2024 grand finalists kicked off with Golden Square in front 14-9 by half-time.

In the third quarter the Jordan Cochrane-coached Castlemaine seized control.

As the Magpies slammed on six goals they kept the Bulldogs to a single major.

Castlemaine led 47-20 going into the final term and was up 62-27 at the final siren.

Best for the Magpies were Jemma Finning, Maeve Tupper and Eillish Cumming.

Lauren Suleiman, Mackenzie Bickley and Ava Barker were best for a Golden Square team coached by Carly Geary and Bec McLay.

In last Sunday’s first semi-final it was Eaglehawk which marked a 13-point win against Sandhurst.

There were 18 goals kicked as the Two Blues won 64-51.

Best for the Hawks were Caitlin Evans, Lexie Moss, Abbey Willcox and coach Molly Metcalf.

Zoeann McKenzie, Arkie Donnelly, Ruby Campbell and Chloe Naughton played well for the Andrew Saladino and Liam Ireland-coached Sandhurst.

It’s one-all in this season’s meetings between the preliminary finalists.

Golden Square dominated on its Wade Street ground to score a 64-1 win against the Hawks in round two.

The teams met again in mid-June where Eaglehawk won 8-4 on its Canterbury Park turf.

In the under-18 girls competition it will be Golden Square and Sandhurst in tonight’s preliminary final at the QEO.

The Bulldogs and Dragons clash will start at 5.30pm.

Golden Square will be keen to hit back from a 45-8 loss to Woorinen in the second semi-final.

A fired-up Sandhurst kicked off the finals series by scoring a 99-nil win against White Hills in the first semi-final.