AFL: Facing two of the top sides in the AFL Canberra women's competition was no easy feat, but it appears the Tigerettes used that baptism of fire to bring their A game to the 7.9 (51) to 0.2 (2) victory over ANU at Town Park on Saturday.
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Queanbeyan brought physicality and intensity to the field early and it wasn't long before the Tigerettes, lead by goal sneak Lani Watson (three goals), snuck through a couple of majors to lead 14-0 at quarter time.
The majority of the first half was spent in the Tigerettes forward 50, defensive pressure from the forward line and midfield made it difficult for the Griffins to make it past halfway.
At halftime ANU were still yet to score, thanks to defensive pressure from the backline, Kristol Pyke and Tash Rakic particularly, and an excellent tagging role on the Griffins usual powerhouse Tarlina Tipungwuti from Tigerettes workhorse, Carly Res.
Despite a 28-point margin ANU came out with their heads held high and managed to spend more time in their forward half, but only managed to score two points to the Tigerettes four.
A three-goal quarter in the final term, thanks to Watson, Hannah Dunn and Cassie Reid (two goals each), and great movement through the centre from Jacinta Froud, Keely Johnson, Ella Ross and Fallon Lieschke extended the margin for the Tigerettes, who ran out eventual winners by 49 points.
Queanbeyan coach Robert Anderson said the match was a confidence booster for the girls who showed much improvement from weeks prior.
"I was happy with the weekend because of what we had to come up against in the first two rounds," he said.
"It was a chance to get our fitness up, our defence was good and everyone attacked the ball hard.
"We could've almost had 10 or 15 goals though, the scoreboard didn't really reflect how much we dominated."
This Saturday the Tigerettes line up against ADFA and will be looking for their first away win.
"To play two of the top sides first up was hard on the girls," he said.
"The girls should get a lot of confidence over the next two weeks, it's just a matter of getting our confidence back."