Success for new Castlemaine Senior Women’s Football team
The Castlemaine Senior Women’s Football team returned to Camp Reserve successful after winning the atWork Australia Pre-season Cup defeating Echuca Football Netball Club in the final on Sunday.
As pre-season training concludes ahead of this years’ sporting calendar many local Clubs have begun testing team dynamics through scratch matches and intra-Club games. The new Castlemaine Football Netball Club Senior Women’s Football team was no exception, taking the opportunity to compete on Sunday in the 2022 atWork Australia Pre-season Cup in Shepparton.
Playing a total of five games on the day, each with 10-minute halves, it gave Senior Women’s Coach Tiahna Cochrane a chance to test the new team, playing positions, and on-field tactics. “The round-robin format of the Cup allowed us to experiment and to work with the skills of each player” Cochrane said, “the short games were the perfect way to see the dynamic of the playing group in action, and we were pleased to see it evolve over the course of the day”. This was the first time the inaugural senior women’s side had played together in a game-day scenario since pre-season training began in November last year.
Castlemaine FNC were up against top sides of the Northern Country Women’s League including 2021 finals team Echuca FNC. CFNC played four rounds in hot conditions and remained undefeated heading into the final against Echuca FNC.
Entering the day with an open mind the team went from strength-to-strength, led by Cochrane who also performed a key mid-field role, a focus on zoning was the recipe for success as defence, midfield and forward groups unfolded to reveal a cohesive playing structure. The tenacity of key performers Meg Ginnivan, Taylah Sartori, Chloe Butcher and Emily Cooper laid the groundwork for a superior midfield supported by ruck-woman Emma Pedretti whose physicality and basketball background dominated from the centre bounce.
Marks taken by Meg Tong, Lily McNair and Ella Cochrane proved essential and lead to a winning forward-line featuring Shelby Knoll who kicked eleven goals for the day. All games proved competitive with defensive players Meg Tong, Antoinette Sampson, Katie Petrusma and Michelle Barkla working hard in the backline supported by the versatility of players Elise Tolley, Britney Oliver, Mya Meemusor, Dakota Steele and Chloe Drew. Tong, Oliver and Drew served essential defensive clearances whilst tackles laid by Cochrane, Meemusor, Ginnivan, Cochrane and Sartori lead to crucial turnovers which bolstered the Castlemaine side. A well-timed smother by debutante Pedretti in Round 5 held off Shepparton United.
“I am extremely proud of the teams’ performance, their drive and their sportsmanship” said Cochrane, “They held off some very competitive sides in challenging conditions and we were able to see exactly where their individual talents lie. This will be crucial heading into our first CVFL game against Kyneton in April.” Assistant Coach Jordan Cochrane added “There are some things we will be focussed on improving over the next few weeks but we know we’ll be ready come round one”.
Front: Mya Meemusor, Elise Tolley, Tiahna Cochrane (Coach), Lily McNair, Katie Petrusma, Shelby Knoll, Meg Ginnivan, Chloe Butcher, Antoinette Sampson.
Back: Chloe Drew, Ella Cochrane, Emily Cooper, Jordan Cochrane (Assistant Coach), Taylah Sartori, Michelle Barkla, Dakota Steele, Britney Oliver, Meg Tong, Emma Pedretti.
CFNC Women’s Football Operations Manager, Georgia Banks, was ecstatic with the result which she put down to the mix of talent across the group and focus on team bonding and culture from the outset. “As a new team we’ve really tried hard throughout preseason to establish good culture and create a fun environment for the players where they feel supported” Banks said, “We feel lucky to have such a diverse playing group and our performance on Sunday more than demonstrates the trust and confidence the girls have in each other both on and off the field. It was so exciting to see how their on-field success strengthened their bond game-on-game and we can’t wait to see how they go this season”.
The 2022 atWork Australia Cup is a historic addition to the Castlemaine FNC trophy cabinet and is a positive sign of what’s to come for the new women’s side. The team would particularly like to thank Junior Girls players Chloe Drew, Dakota Steele and Chloe Butcher for their phenomenal efforts on the day and Sophie Dunn for her continued support.
The Castlemaine Senior Women’s Football team will continue to welcome new players of all experience levels to the side and invites anyone interested to contact Georgia on 0438 849 365 or come down to training at Camp Reserve from 6pm on Monday and Wednesday nights. The Team also extends an invitation to all community members to come and watch their first historic match against Kyneton on Saturday 9 April at Camp Reserve, Castlemaine.
