The Ballarat Kestrels were defeated by the third-placed Western Crusaders in their first and only home game of the Gridiron Victoria Women’s season at the Alfredton Football Oval on Saturday.
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But player Molly Branson, who has been sidelined with injury, said the 52-0 scoreboard did not reflect the quality of the game.
“It was a bit of a difficult team to come up against – they were quite different to what we have ever played against and you could definitely tell we were diminished by injuries,” the Kestrel’s running back said.
“The really good take away was that our girls really banded together and played with a lot of heart – they always do.”
The game marked the first time the Kestrels had played in front of a home crowd.
“You could definitely see in their faces that it was a good thing to have a large crowd cheering us on,” Branson said.
Both the men’s and women’s teams are hoping for an increase in the number of home games next season to give the sport more exposure in Ballarat.
Another highlight from the match was the Kestrels’ Renee Boag named the game’s most valuable player.
“She was playing both sides of the ball, absolutely killing it running the football and making some really big hits on defence,” Branson said.
The Kestrels have now played six matches without a win, but Branson said her teammates had kept their heads up.
“There is so much support for each other and when we do play the tough games when perhaps the scoreboard is not showing just how well we’ve played, you see all the girls pick each other up and lift,” she said.
Branson estimated more than half the team had not played gridiron before and said the players were now focused on putting in the hard yards during the off season.
“This season for us has really been about reentering ourselves into the competition and teaching a large amount of rookies how to play football and get them up to speed,” Branson said.
In their final match on Saturday, the Kestrels face a solid running side in Melbourne Uni Chargers.
“We are going to have to be looking to really lock down their run and prevent them from scoring too much on the ground, force them to pass and pick up some interceptions,” Branson said.