Grovedale prepares for crucial Thomson battle

GROVEDALE survived a late poster from Thomson to prevail by three points earlier this year, so the scene is set for a thrilling rematch in the AFL Barwon female footy Division 1 competition.

Thomson will host the third versus fourth Round 12 blockbuster tomorrow (Saturday, July 5) at 10am.

Grovedale is coming off a 118-point victory against an undermanned St Joseph’s after losing to St Mary’s by 22 points in Round 10.

Coach Paul Price reflected on the loss to the Saints.

“We weren’t as clean going in forward or scoring from our forward entries,” he said.

“We thought we defended well inside our forward 50, so we got repeat entries, but we didn’t quite set up well enough to make the most of that.

“Especially in the first quarter, the ball lived in our forward 50 and forward half and to only kick 1.5 – if you go 3.3 or 4.2 – it certainly makes it a lot harder for St Mary’s to come back.

“So we just had to make the most of our opportunities.”

Price said a late change to the start time of tomorrow’s match had thrown his team out a bit.

“It’s really hard for our playing list to be available and we’ll unfortunately be sort of four or five players light out of our starting 16, that will be unavailable because of the time slot [10am],” he said.

“It’s a hugely important game and to [be] not at your full strength is disappointing, but there’ll be opportunities given to some girls and we’ll see how we go with it.”

He said players had pre-organised work and family commitments.

Price confirmed former league best and fairest winner Alana Tully ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament against St Mary’s and would miss the rest of the season.