THE Bathurst Lady Bushrangers have continued their amazing debut season by hammering Dubbo in their Central West AFL women’s major semi-final on Saturday in Orange to book a spot in the grand final.
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In a one-sided affair that started out closely enough but soon became a thrashing, the Bushrangers didn’t concede a single goal after quarter-time, having taken a nine-point lead into the first break.
They finished with an 11-9-75 to 1-0-6 victory and it appears that only a major catastrophe could prevent them from claiming a title in the first year of the competition.
“We were delighted with how we went,” Bushrangers captain Kelsey Smith said.
“We have had a few good games with Dubbo. They are a good team at their best and play very physically, but we played very strongly and everyone played their role to perfection.
“The defensive effort was outstanding. We don’t go into games thinking we can keep a team scoreless for that long, so to actually do it is very satisfying.”
Dubbo were close enough at the end of the first quarter, but led by Mariah Gilchrist and Katie Kennedy the Bathurst team piled on seven goals in the next two quarters to put to bed any doubt as to who would be the first team into the decider.
They will return to Bloomfield Oval on Saturday week for a shot at a perfect unbeaten season, against either Dubbo or Orange.
Orange lost the minor semi-final to Cowra but due to player registration issues, the result was reversed.
Regardless of who they end up playing in the grand final, though, Smith is certain that her team can lift even more for the most important game of the season.
“There is always room for improvement. Whenever we train we concentrate hard on areas we think we can improve, whether that be goal kicking or ball movement or any other aspect of the game,” she said.
“I think the thing that has kept us apart from the other teams, and was evident again on Saturday, was the way we shifted the ball, the willingness to get our hands on it.
“Some of the other teams simply get it and boot it forward and don’t play with a lot of structure. We generally look for a target and try and move it smartly and it was happening again on the weekend.
“All the girls have set positions and they all played a role in the win. Mariah bagged five goals but a lot of that was to do with how we got the ball into her as well. It was a true team effort.”
