Keilor Park showed some positive signs as it had a free hit at making the Essendon District Football League women’s division 1 grand final.
The Devils faced an undefeated Strathmore in the opening week of the finals, with a grand final spot on the line.
Having lost their three matches to the Mores, the Devils weren’t given much opportunity to knock them off.
There were some positive signs but the Mores had enough class to come away with 4.10 (34)-2.2 (14) win.
Devils coach Marcus Barclay said they would take a lot out of the game.
“We wanted to try and play defensively,” he said. “They are a lot quicker and are more youthful.
“We wanted to make it hard for Strathmore to score and you have to play that way against them otherwise it becomes a shootout and they kick 15 goals.
“We have a plan in place and the girls were fantastic for a half and then in the lost quarter when we kept them scoreless which was a massive effort.”
Neither team kicked a goal in the first quarter and it was just one goal apiece in the second.
The Mores kicked 3.6 to nothing in the third quarter to blow open the match.
Keilor Park won the final quarter but it wasn’t enough.
Barclay said there was always a chance that the Mores could go away from them but his group continued to contest the game out for the whole 80 minutes.
Rhiarn Daley and Krystyn Raymundo were the goal kickers for the Devils.
Aleisha Dorrington, Antonietta Parisi and Alexandra Kilty were named their best.
The Devils season is not over though having secured the double chance, they will now face Burnside Heights in a preliminary final.
Barclay said they were keen to bounce back and get another shot at the Mores in the grand final.
“We are almost a brand new team so it was a thrill for the girls to finish second on the ladder,” he said.
“Anything else is a bonus but it would be nice to have a fifth crack at Strathmore. Burnside is similar to us, Westmeadows is pretty good too.
“Burnside Heights has that finals experience and it’ll be a test for us coming off a Strathmore game.
“It’ll be a nice test for us.”
Barclay said he thought the Bears had been the measuring stick the past two seasons and were firing at the right time.
The Bears won through to the preliminary final with a 9.10 (64)-1.1 (7) win against Westmeadows in the elimination final.
The Tigers kicked the first goal of the game but then struggled to get the ball into their half for the rest of the game.
