Tara Murray
Footscray was beaten by a better team on the day in the Hockey Victoria Premier Vic League women’s grand final.
After winning through to the grand final in a penalty shootout, the Bulldogs faced a massive test against Essendon on Saturday.
Essendon would make the most of its opportunities on the way to the premiership in a 4-1 win.
Bulldogs coach Alex Shirley said that Essendon was too good in the end.
“They were really clinical up front,” he said. “The match was probably closer than what the score line showed, but they just took the most of their opportunities.”
Essendon led 2-0 at half time. Having come back from that score line late in the season to come away with a draw, the Bulldogs had been confident they could still make it a contest.
Shirley said in the end it proved to be too tough an ask.
“They got one with 20 seconds left in the second quarter,” he said. “Had it been 1-0 we would have been really confident.
“We always thought we could get back into the game, we had a couple of chances but we didn’t make it count.
“They went up their end and scored twice to put it to bed.”
Despite the loss, Shirley said it had still been a pretty positive season. It’s just the second time the club has made a premier league grand final.
The club’s reserves side was able to beat Essendon in their grand final earlier in the day in a penalty shoot out.
Shirley said things were bright for the future of the club.
“That was a really good result,” he said. “One game doesn’t decide your whole season.
“We had plenty of positives and the reserves won.
“It was good for the club to get some rewards for all the hard work. We’ve got a good group and we’ll look to work hard for next year.”
