A tight slog from start to finish, the Bushrangers were able to atone for their heartbreaking defeat to Geelong the previous week, seeing off a late Rebels charge to hold on for an eight-point victory.
Murray Bushrangers assistant coach Mario De Santa-Ana said he was proud of how the girls stood up to the pressure and ground out a tight win.
“It was definitely a real slog and a very physical game from start to finish,” De Santa-Ana said.
“Both sides really based their game around pressure and tackling which led to a very low-scoring game with lots of stoppages, so it was very physically draining for the girls.
“For the coaching group we were just so rapt and proud of the way they went about it, after losing in the final seconds last week we really focused on finishing strongly, so to see it come to fruition was very pleasing.”
The heat was on from the first bounce, with both sides showing a willingness to hit the contest hard quickly turning the game into a scrap.
Molly Walton would provide the first major of the game for the Rebels, before Taylah Power quickly replied for the Bushrangers to have the scores level at the first change.
The second term was a true defensive battle, with each team only able to register a single behind to once again have the scores locked away at 1.2 (8) apiece at the main break.
Looking to break the game open, the Bushrangers brought more of an attacking intent to the third quarter, finally being able to win some free-flowing ball on the outside and put repeated pressure on the Rebels’ defence.
But they couldn’t fully capitalise on the general play domination, adding one goal courtesy of Zarlie Goldsworthy to head into three-quarter time eight points in front.
With flashbacks from the previous week haunting the Bushies, things got hairy midway through the final term as Paige Glover converted the Rebels’ second goal to trim the margin to two points.
Pushing hard for the match-winning goal, Murray was able to hold up in defence, before Mindy Quade managed to get on the end of some counterattack play to restore the eight-point margin and ride home the victory.
From a Goulburn Valley perspective, captain Keeley Skepper was the standout, racking up 20 possessions and leading from the front all day, while Madison Gray continued to impress on the wing gathering 10 touches.
“Keeley’s game was just an absolute ripper, she was in the midfield rotation to begin with and then we slotted her in across half-back and she just repelled the ball at will in the final term,” De Santa-Ana said.
“Madison Gray had a fantastic match on the wing, she showed her strengths and her weapons which are running and her physical attributes, I think she had our highest sprint metres on the day and worked hard for all four quarters.”
