By Molly Magennis
Despite a strong start and a 19-point lead heading into the main break, the Williamstown Seagulls fell short in their round one match against Darebin on Saturday.
The Gulls got off to a flying start, snagging five unanswered goals in the first term, including one in the first minute of the game thanks to debutant Lori Stepnell.
They were able to keep the Falcons from hitting the scoreboard and went into the second quarter with an easy 32-point lead.
The second quarter saw the Falcons pick up momentum, kicking two goals and leaving the Gulls entirely off the scoreboard.
Darebin were clearly fired up as they slowly made their way back into the game, falling only 8-points behind leading into the final quarter.
Despite an early goal from the Falcons, the Gulls were seemingly still in the clear.
They struggled to hit the scoreboard however and did not do enough to prevent a late goal from Stephanie Simpson, which edged Darebin in front by three points.
A late effort from Elsa Mangan was not enough, and the Falcons were able to take home the win.
Despite the loss, there were promising signs from debutant Alana Sarec, who was impressive in the ruck managing 30 hit-outs.
Sharnie Whiting was ever present throughout the match, evident in the 20 disposals and five marks she was able to notch up.
Coach Penny Cula-Reid said since Saturday’s game she’s been asking herself what happened to the stellar first quarter the girls had.
“It was a really promising start in the first quarter. Kicking five goals in the first quarter is something that we haven’t done in a very, very long time,” she said.
“So at quarter time I was like, here we go, we’re up and about here, we’re gonna have a great day. And then to Darebin’s credit they fixed up a few [structural] things. They came back and they really put us to the test.”
Looking back on the footage of the game, Cula-Reid said Darebin really stood up, whereas the Gulls are still learning how to play through adversity.
“I think unfortunately we didn’t stick to our guns and what we were doing in the first quarter, which was our brand of football, and you can’t really win too many games on one quarter of footy.”
Cula-Reid said one contributing factor for the loss was the fact that the Gulls had nine new debutants playing in the game on Saturday, plus a completely new midfield.
“We had four new girls in the midfield group, five new girls into our forward line group and so that’s where it all sort of I guess fell away for us,” she said.
“We had more inside 30s, we had more clearances, we had more of the ball, unfortunately for us we just couldn’t get the score on the board.”
The Gulls will take on the Dogs at Whitten Oval this weekend, with time and date to be confirmed.
WILLIAMSTOWN: 5.2 2.1 4.1 5.4 (34)
DAREBIN: 0.0 2.1 4.1 6.1 (37)
Goals: 1 Sofi Georgas, Elsa Mangan, Sophia McCarthy, Lori Stepnell, Eliza Straford
