FOOTBALL: Monaro coach Tilly Carbone said was always expecting a difficult year, but a 12 to 0 loss to Gungahlin at Riverside Oval was a little worse than he was expecting.
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The Panthers went into the round one clash down four of their key players, leaving the younger players to fill the backline.
It did not take very long at all for the Bulls to get on the board, but soon after a sprint upfield and cross into the box from Diarna Genovese placed the ball onto the foot of Darby Whiteley, which she sailed into the back of the net and tied the match again.
That was where the magic ended for the struggling Panthers, who went into halftime down an undesirable 5 to 1.
Ruby Gambale held the backline together and single handedly saved a number of certain goals, but was forced off with a hamstring strain early in the second half.
The backline found it difficult to cope without Gambale and coach Carbone was forced to send star striker Ellie Pobar into the midfield.
Gungahlin placed a heavy trap throughout the game, making it difficult for the Panthers to get the ball past halfway and when they did manage to get a run midfielders turned forwards were isolated and found themselves searching for help that rarely came.
Carbone said he was disappointed with the eventual score, but is hoping the girls will use the loss to improve their game.
"I'm disappointed that it blew out to 12-1, but it's a start and we know where we're at and what we need to improve on- as long as we learn from it," he said.
"Diarna Genovese worked hard all day and used her speed to get past defenders and Dee, Darby and Ellie up front were a potent forward line- we just couldn't get up field enough and we didn't have many opportunities up forward.
"Ruby Gambale was our best until we went off, which forced us to move Ellie (Pobar) into the mid- she did some good things in there, but it weakened our forward line."
Monaro face off against Woden Weston for their first away game and Carbone is confident the girls can be competitive.
"They're a similar team to us- a young team- and they lack experience like us, so it should be more of an even contest," he said.
"We should have more time and space, so we'll hopefully give them a good run for their money."
