By JARROD POTTER
Victorian Women’s Football League
SEASON’S end came for Cranbourne in what will be remembered as a turbulent but promising 2014.
Eastern Devils seconds were too strong for the Eagles in their final VWFL Division-1 clash of the year as the Devils ran out five-point winners in front of a crowd of International Cup players from Canada.
With South East Juniors’ finals running concurrently to the Saturday fixture, Cranbourne had a depleted line-up without the defensive composure of Georgia Fisher at the back or the hit-up target of Lauren Hojnacki up forward, both of whom have impressed in their debut senior seasons.
Cranbourne struggled to get out of the slop in the middle of Mulgrave Reserve and made do with the three goals it cobbled together to end the year 3.5 (23) to Eastern’s 4.4. (28).
Likely to finish atop the Eagles’ best and fairest, Alicia Heins continued her stellar season and she went headlong into any pack and copped the scorn of a few Devils in the process.
Cranbourne’s Kirsten Macleod also earned a best afield honour and an even greater prize – as she earned the league’s goal-kicking honour to finish her season with 27 goals.
Laura Robinson, Chloe McMillan and Lauren Hutchinson continued to highlight the upcoming talent in the team – with these players only just graduating from junior football – while the experienced Ash Fennell continued to pay off wherever she was required – ruck, forward or defence.
In a year where the side went from being Berwick VWFL Premier Division to Cranbourne in the space of two weeks, the efforts of the group to rebound and form the core Eagles side deserves significant credit.
