AFL Quebec’s recent Preseason Cup tournament also served as
the debut round of the North-East Shield, an exciting new women’s Australian
Rules football competition contested between New York, Boston and Montreal. The
league has introduced an innovative new scoring system in which 2 premiership
points are awarded for a win and 1 point for a draw. In addition, any away team
that secures a victory or draw on the road is awarded 1 bonus point.
The hometown Angels and New York Lady Pies squared off in
game one, the visitors having the advantage of stiff breeze at their backs in
the first half. The contest was a tight arm wrestle early, both teams’ defences
holding up well under the pressure. Margo Legault was in everything for the
Angels but it was the work of the Magpie army’s Licata, Hinojosa and Casillas
that swung momentum New York’s way. It would be Andrea Casillas who eventually
broke the drought, the talented utility slotting through a classy goal on the
run to give the Magpies the early lead. The Angels threatened to snatch back
the lead late in the half, rookie Angel Robyn Graham leading the charge showing
glimpses of brilliance on debut, but Magpie defenders Ervin and Ridwan held the
fort down back and New York held on to a hard earned 4 point halftime lead.
The Angels fought back strong in the second half, Elaine
Gilmore unstoppable through the middle adding a goal and putting the Angels
noses in front. Veronique Chasse had been a handful for the opposition all game
and Margo Legault was providing the Angels drive through the midfield
dominating the clearances, the purple haze slowly gaining ascendency in the
match. Despite having all the play the Angels were wasting opportunities in
front of goal. The Magpies were far from out of the match and rebounded the
ball forward against the flow of play scoring a behind. With only a goal in it
the final nail on the coffin was delivered by Angel Emily Legault, the star
ruckman slamming home her first goal of the afternoon allowing the Angels to
run out 12 point victors, Angels 2.5
(17) to Lady Magpies 1.1 (7).
Game 2 pitted arch-rivals Boston and New York against each
other. The Demons launched out of the gate, a goal to the midfield machine
Alysha Olson and two to Holly Teufel giving the Boston squad complete control
of the match early. The Magpies fought back with some forward forays of their
own, Samantha Wolf playing a lone hand up front trying to ignite a spark and
managing two behinds for her efforts. The Magpies were working their way back
into the game with some solid work from Karen Muiter and Alessandra Nolting,
but the early damage was proving difficult to undo and the Demons held a
commanding 17 point break at the half.
With their backs to the wall the Magpies came out fighting.
Melissa Fudor continued her sublime work through the middle and Aiko Neligan
threw herself fearlessly into every contest but it simply wasn’t enough. Boston
had their tails up and Holly Teufel was putting on a clinic in front of goal
booting her third for the match. With further great plays from Andrea Williams
and Anna Belfore the Demons stormed home to a 35 point mauling of the Magpies.
Demons 5.7 (37) to Magpies 0.2 (2).
Boston’s fierce victory over New York had pundits billing
them as warm favourites over the Angels for game three, but with some of the
team’s marquee players already looking on from the sidelines things were about
to get worse. The Demons six goal victory had come at a price, and now two more
of their stars were sitting on the sidelines nursing injuries. In no mood for
mercy the Angels were about to move up a gear. Tara Cools-Lartigue had been one
of the Angels best all day, her attack on the ball and ability to win the
contested ball a key to Montreal’s repeated forward plays. Lindsay Belzie who
had started off slowly was also finding touch. Dominating up forward the
spearhead finally slotted her first for the day and the Angels were off and
running. Lisa Arredondo refused to throw in the towel for the Demons and led
the charge for a mini Boston revival. It netted a point to Olson before the
Angels snatched momentum back, Emily Legault starting to make her mark on the
game peppering the goal face with three behinds. As the siren sounded for
halftime an inaccurate Montreal held an 8 point lead and the Demons were hanging
on by a thread.
Having formed an absolute brick wall in defense all day
alongside impressive rookie Melissa Saltarelli, Mimi Eboka’s push forward
earned her a first ever goal and a valuable one at that, as Montreal sat on the
verge of breaking open the match. When Lindsay Belzie added her second major of
the game and Emily Legault finally broke through for her first after kicking
five behinds the Angels had sealed the match cruising to a solid 29 point
victory. Angels 4.6 (30) to Demons 0.1 (1).
The results of the round placed Montreal at the head of the
table, but only by the smallest of margins. The race for the North-East Shield
very much still up for grabs as the three teams get set to battle out round two
in Boston on June 15.
