The Orange Tigerettes couldn’t match the visiting Dubbo Demons in a Central West AFL affair that stretched both teams, eventually going down 4.11.35 – 1.3.9 on Saturday afternoon, despite rocketing out of the blocks at Waratahs Sportsground.
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Although they were only able to bring 13 for the game Dubbo still requested the two sides play on the full-sized ground and although the Tigerettes kicked the first goal of the afternoon, their only major, the Demons’ leg speed and conditioning proved decisive as they ran away with the clash.
“Dubbo, despite having less numbers than us, were much fitter. They were running rings around us and legwork was much better,” Tigerettes midfielder Jacqui Harris said.
“They had a couple of quick goals in the last quarter and pushed the scoreboard out a bit further than what it was for most of the game.”
Alayne White slotted the Tigerettes’ goal early in the first quarter and and with another behind her side held a five-point lead at the first break, the Demons were only able to kick two behinds in the opening terms.
Despite Dubbo having more control of the ball, the Tigerettes looked the more dangerous side moving forward.
However, after the first break, Demons overran the hosts, camping in the Tigerettes’ own 50 for much of the remaining three quarters.
“We stuck it to Dubbo early and I hoped we’d continue that through the game but our game fitness got the better of us,” Harris said.
“Our intensity, we were ball-hungry and laid a lot of tackles in the first quarter and I think we did some good marking, which was consistent. Our defence worked hard all day, Dubbo just seemed to have numbers to the ball all the time.
Harris praised her backline, led by Amy Symons, which held up well considering the sheer amount of territory Dubbo enjoyed.
“Amy’s always solid, she’s very, very ball hungry and body strong so she’s in amongst it one-on-one and it’s not often she comes away second-best,” Harris said.
“She had a really good game and worked very hard, they didn’t get a rest at all as the ball was down there 90 per cent of the whole game.
“Alayne (White)’s tackling was really good, she puts us all to shame despite her size, and Jenny (Whiley) is always solid as well and Laura (Bennett) pushed really hard, she was buggered by the end of the game as she was running really hard and she was rucking as well.”
The Tigerettes are now four wins outside of the top three in fourth, but remain in the finals frame. They’ll look to increase their four-point buffer from fifth placed Cowra this weekend, but that’ll be easier said than done considering they face the powerhouse Bathurst Bushrangers.
- DUBBO DEMONS 4.11.35 (Emily Warner 3, Alicia Clark goals) def ORANGE TIGERETTES 1.3.9 (Alayne White goal)