By JARROD POTTER
BERWICK Diamonds Women’s Gridiron Team has unearthed a champion roster, but fell six-points short in their Gridiron Victoria debut.
Charging out onto Croydon Field for their inaugural match on Saturday morning, after forming the team earlier this year, any initial nerves were erased the moment the first tackles were laid.
The Diamonds charged forward on their first drive and got the Berwick-centric crowd roaring as the Endeavour Hills-based team started to push towards the touchdown. Preferring to mostly rush the ball rather than take to the air, the Diamonds handed off to Renee Turner at the 25-yard line to run in the first touchdown in Berwick Diamonds’ history.
Western would return fire soon after to level the scores, but the ball returned to the Diamonds and the next thrilling rush began.
Quarterback Vanessa Roman went from zero to hero after she recovered her own fumble and sped away from the charging Foxes’ defence to run in a 40-yard touchdown and set up a 12-6 lead for the Diamonds approaching the half.
Berwick halted the Western charge to maintain a six-point buffer at the main break. The defensive work of Cecillia Teoteo left the Foxes dead in their tracks as she tackled anything with a pulse and slammed them down into Croydon Field.
The Foxes started to sniff out touchdowns of their own through the second half and eventually took the lead with a rushing touchdown as the clock ticked down.
The Diamonds could not push back to level the ledger and conceded a 12-18 loss by the final siren.
Diamonds’ coach Jamie Stafford was pleased with his charges’ preparation but admitted fatigue played a significant factor in the Foxes’ come-from-behind victory.
“I thought it was actually really good – we prepared very, very heavily and did all we could in the pre-season,” Stafford said.
“We scored on our first drive which was promising and from that view I thought they were really good.”
“Flip side of being our first game was the girls had problems with fatigue in the second half and by the third and fourth quarters they started to drop off in intensity.”
Adopting a rarer formation – the flexbone and its variants – the Diamonds had countless rushing options to beguile the Foxes early and Stafford was impressed by how the offence ran the structure.
The flexbone formation allowed for less emphasis on the quarterback, but Stafford was still impressed when Roman did throw and make her completions.
“It was just because of some inexperience that we didn’t throw as much,” Stafford said.
“We’ll introduce more passing into the season as we develop.
“When we did pass I thought our QB Vanessa did well – she was above 50 per cent for passing and in Victoria that is really good.
“For her first game she showed she could execute and handle it well.”
Stafford also highlighted the defensive efforts of Teoteo – a converted rugby player who showed a great array of tackling capability – and the youngest player on the team Erin Gubatanga, who starred as a combination safety/linebacker.
The Diamonds have the weekend off before hosting the Northern Lady Raiders on Sunday 19 October from 12.45 at Sydney Pargeter Reserve.
If any women are interested in joining the Diamonds, contact coach Jamie Stafford on 0433 488 693 for more information.
