Lady Hawks take a beating

By JARROD POTTER
THE battered Berwick Hawks held their ground against ladder-leaders Darebin in all facets but on the scoreboard, taking an 84-point loss.
Already sporting one of the larger injury lists in the league, Berwick was decimated in-game as five more injuries came to reduce the Hawks to 17 fit players.
Berwick’s only goal came in the third quarter as Stephanie Brown dribbled it in from 25 metres out on a tight angle, narrowly missing the outstretched hands of a diving Darebin defender.
The Falcons continued to push in the last quarter, kicking three more goals with the match already sealed up.
“Unfortunately the score doesn’t reflect the game,” Hawks coach Shaun Smith said. “They kicked six in the first quarter and seven for rest of the match.
“All that aside, Darebin are a very good side and had bigger bodies than we do and seasoned campaigners.
“Our girls battled well – it doesn’t really reflect how the game went.”
Smith listed Ash Fennell’s ruck performance against prominent Victorian star Aasta O’Connor as a standout performance, as was Shannon Barnes in the backline and Romy Timmins, Cherie Charles and Emma Champion with their hard-earned possessions garnered in their usual manner.
Berwick sits sixth on the VWFL ladder and faces another tough challenge this week against second-placed Diamond Creek.
“Just saying to the girls, if you’re undermanned like we are, it’s how you go about playing the game,” Smith said.
“The result wasn’t great, but if you play one-on-one footy and work hard, you can go from there.”
In the reserves, the Hawks suffered a similar fate as the seniors, losing by 86 to the Falcons.
From the VWFL South East Division results, Keysborough smashed Hallam 2 by 186, St John’s maintained their claims to the premiership with a 43-point win over Cranbourne and Hallam 1 had the week off.