The only thing more pumped than the Sherrins were the Ulladulla Dockettes on Saturday, as women's footy action returned to Dockerlands stadium. The undefeated Dockettes were up against the third-placed Bay Basin Bombers.
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It was a bit of a new look Dockettes side, with a few injuries, illnesses and work commitments seeing some positional changes in the lead-up to game day. The interruptions didn't seem to hamper the girls in purple though, as they went about their work meticulously from the first ball up.
New ruckwoman Kristelle established dominance early, linking up well with on baller Amy Corkhill who was at her silky best through the middle, using the ball well to give full forward Shannon Lloyd plenty of chances. After a couple of early misses the Dockettes got their radar on, with Riss Newman adding an important major and the fresh legs of super sub Em Hutchins providing some spark up front to net the Ulladulla side's third goal of the term, taking a 21-0 lead into the first break.
The second quarter went to a similar tune, Regan and Lucy benefiting from the tireless ruck magic of Kristelle, sending the ball forward for wingers Mia Clough and Mel Staunton to sneak up front and nab goals of their own. Not content to merely find space and kick goals, Mel made the move to the centres, where she had a flash of WWE inspired defence, coming up with a reverse Randy Orton style RKO attempt on a Basin player on the run.
The momentary lapse didn't stop the Dockers scoreboard onslaught though, with Kristelle moving to half forward and causing havoc, kicking a terrific goal and at one point having three bounces down the wing. With Jodie Mclaren holding the ruck up and skipper Shaylee Sydenham intercepting everything the Bombers threw at her, it looked like a score in the 3 figures loomed, Dockettes up 53-0 at half time.
It was familiar scenes in the third quarter, the elite fitness of Abby and Meg proving vital as they swooped on any loose footy, Jodie continued to take to ruck work like a duck to water and Riss looked like a 100-game veteran making the move from forward to wing. It all added up to the Sherrin spending plenty of time in the Dockers forward 50, Em and Mel both adding their second goals for the match to be up 73 zip at the final change.
Up by such a large margin the Dockettes started to tire in the final quarter and the Bombers large bench started to kick in. It would have been easy for the Bay & Basin side to have given up, being so far behind, but they came out and took it to the Dockers side, adding their first goal of the match and winning the quarter. Shannon Loyd had been swung from full forward to fullback and was doing a terrific job stemming the Bombers attacking raids, Nic Higgins was back at her dangerous best hurtling into contests, while Mia Clough moved in to the centres and caught the coach's eye in her tireless efforts to push back from and be the last line of defence on a number of occasions, taking a clutch mark on the goal line to deny the Basin side another major.
The final score was a resounding 74 points to 7 win. It was great to see the Basin side have such great numbers for an away game and we appreciate them making the trip. As for Ulladulla's favourite daughters, the most pleasing aspect of the win was to see every player contribute and share the load. Players player went 1 vote Amy Corkhill, 2 votes Mel Staunton and 3 votes and best on ground by a country mile Kristelle Westbrook. Thanks as always to everyone that makes game day happen in Kimbo, Annette, Paul, JD, Steve and statsman Ash!