Collingwood’s VFLW team’s winning streak has come to an end with Hawthorn coming out on top in a nail-biting finish. At the final siren, it was Hawthorn with 5.4 (34) against Collingwood’s 4.2 (26).
Whilst Collingwood outscored Hawthorn in two of the quarters, it was their slow start to the match that ultimately had them playing catch up.
Hawthorn’s three unanswered goals in the first quarter set the tone for the match and forced Collingwood to step up to the challenge.
After some much needed words from Coach Chloe McMillian at quarter time, the team came back fighting.
They were very impressive for the remainder of the match and showed great signs of what is to come for the rest of the season.
Young debutant Nyakoat Dojiok was incredibly exciting; a skilled defender repositioned in the forward line saw her score two goals. Her speed and versatility as a young player will be hard to beat this season.
Another stand-out performer and best on ground for the match, Demi Hallett proved her strength and ferocity in the midfield as she racked up a whopping 22 tackles.
Teammate Matilda Zander was incredibly impressed with Hallett, saying “she played her role extremely well shutting down her opponents with 22 tackles so you can’t really ask for much more”.
Zander believes the team needed to play like they did after quarter time to be successful going forward.
“Once we got going, our pressure and intent to get the ball forward was great, but it just took us a while to hit that gear” Zander said.
Demi Hallett, you absolute jet 👏 pic.twitter.com/jinp5Af4fF
— Collingwood VFLW (@CollingwoodVFLW) March 5, 2022
The stand-out performers in the midfield were, as always, Caitlin Bunker and young gun Elisabeth Jackson. In the backline, Hales and Ricardo also played their roles well to shut down the forwards.
Going into next week, Zander believes the team has what it takes to come out on top.
“As a team, we need to be switched on from the start and we will play out the game how we know we can” Zander says.
Collingwood will take on Port Melbourne in round 5 in another home game at Victoria Park. The match will begin at 9.45am and will be a double header with the AFLW game in the afternoon
The match will be free entry, however, you will need to leave the ground and re-enter with tickets for the AFLW match. You can livestream the game on the VFLW YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/AFLVictoria.
Final Score
Collingwood 4.2 (26)
Hawthorn 5.4 (34)
Goals
Collingwood: Dojiok 2, Zander, Dematteo
Hawthorn: Williams 2, Szgeti, Deed
Best
Collingwood: Hallett, Bunker, Jackson, Dojiok, Barnett, Hales
Hawthorn: Whelan, Carbone, Deed, Luke, Williams, Mifsud
