Old Ivanhoe v Old Melburnians (Women)

Old Ivanhoe’s round two clash saw them coming up against an Old Melbournians team that managed a strong win the week before.  The 4:45pm game marked a special day for the club as it was both the first ‘quadruple header’ and twilight game held at Chelsworth Park.  Unfortunately for the girls, Melbourne’s weather decided to rear its ugly head and threw up some terrible wind and rain over the course of the day.

Old Ivanhoe got off to a fast start in front of a strong home crowd winning the centre clearance and locking the ball forward. After much scrapping Mia Siemonsma managed to poke home Old Ivanhoe’s first goal which brought a loud cheer across the home crowd.  The rest of the quarter was heavily contested, mostly in Old Ivanhoe’s forward line, as they seemed to be getting the better of the wet conditions.  As the quarter was coming to a close Bella Reeves-Smyth earned herself a set shot for goal and after some quick thinking realised that nobody was on the mark and ran a long way in before slotting the goal.

The second quarter, much like the first, was played generally in Old Ivanhoe’s forward-line.  Despite the forward dominance Old Ivanhoe struggled to capitalise and only managed five behinds for the quarter. Strong defensive efforts from Cara Eddings and Beth Hopper helped Old Ivanhoe go into the long break without conceding a score.

The third quarter started much the same as the first half with Old Ivanhoe remaining dominant.  Tash Reeve kicked a well-deserved goal as her continual effort earned her a set shot which she promptly put away. Jacqueline Mitchelhill and Eliza de Bomford remained very strong through the middle and gave Old Ivanhoe first use of the football out of the middle but it was Old Melbournians who managed to sneak in a goal on the siren to go into the last break with some needed momentum.

The last quarter became very tense as Old Melbournians fought very hard and kicked two more high quality goals to bring the margin back within 10 points with half the quarter left to play. Despite the run of play swinging against them, Old Ivanhoe’s defence stood firm and kept the ball going forward as they continued to pepper the score with behinds. Some calm play saw girls taking their time with free kicks and marks to dwindle the clock all the way down. Sarah Foley ended the game kicking her sixth point of the day and as the siren went a great cheer went around the ground.

The adoring crowd joined the girls in a very loud and proud version of the song.  It is clear that their needs to be some additional practice, but by Round 3, the girls will have the Old Ivanhoe theme song pitch perfect.

Match report by Jack Veal 

Old Ivanhoe

Old Melburnians