Geelong’s VFL Women’s side has played out a thrilling draw with Collingwood on Sunday, with the final scores being locked at 4.3 (27) to 3.9 (27).
The first away match of the season for the Cats always proved to be close, with no more than 11 points splitting the two sides throughout the four quarters.
Inaccurate kicking proved costly for Collingwood as Geelong’s defence managed to keep them goalless until the third quarter, providing zero opportunity for easy forward entries or scoring.
The Magpies kicked a goal well into the final quarter to steal a one point lead, however the Cats managed to respond with a crucial point to even up the scores.
Geelong VFLW coach Paul Hood noted the comparable playing styles between the two sides, stating that both teams did have their chances throughout the match.
“We played in very similar styles, both trying to win the ball hard in close and both teams negated each other for large parts of the day,” Hood said.
“We were fortunate that Collingwood didn’t kick straight today and we also did well to take a couple of our chances. We played well enough to get something but we’ll need to get a bit better to win next,” he said.
Mia-Rae Clifford was among Geelong’s best for the second straight week, playing a crucial role throughout the entire match.
“We thought she (Clifford) did a terrific job over the four quarters. She was really good when she was behind the ball for us and help it drive it forward as well, doing a really great job overall,” Hood said.
Kate Darby also proved to be an important target in the forward line.
“When we were able to find Kate in attack she was terrific in a marking contest and really helped to give us an avenue too,” Hood said.
Hood is confident that the team won’t dwell on the draw ahead of next week’s match, and will instead focus on areas to improve.
“We’ll think about the things that we need to work on and become a little bit more efficient. We contested pretty well today, we just need to get a little bit cleaner with our hands around the ball and get some more practice in, which is also credit to the level of pressure that Collingwood brought,” Hood said.
“There’s plenty of positives from our performance. This is a really tough competition and we’ve got lots of new players that will learn along the way,” he said.
Next week the Cats take on the Williamstown Seagulls at Williamstown Football Ground on Sunday at 2:00pm.
VFL Women’s Round Two
Geelong Cats 4.3 (27) drew with Collingwood 3.9 (27)
Goals: Burchell, Darby, Habib, Orr
Best: Clifford, Fogas, Darby, Goring, Garing, Coventry
Injuries: Nil
Reports: Nil
@ Olympic Park
VFLW: Cats split points in thrilling draw
Geelong’s VFL Women’s side has played out a thrilling draw with Collingwood on Sunday,