The girls went into Round 13 with a positive attitude despite having previously been defeated by the Diesels, 10-4 in Round 2. 

It was a challenge they took in their stride and knew teamwork and communication were key.

With the toss landing in Young’s favour it was Junee who took the kick; a high ball landing comfortably in the arms of Caitlin Silk who returned to the field after five weeks of injury.

Silk put a quick step on a Junee player before pumping out an 80 metre sprint and crossing the line. All within 23 seconds.

With the conversion unsuccessful, the score went to 4-nil.

Hard work in the centre by Ashley Rolfe, and combinations by Nikita Bruce and captain Jess McInerney saw Young yet again threaten to break the opposition’s defence.

A pass to the wing saw Holly Cullen break from the Diesels and use her speed to gain some valuable ground for the Cherryettes. 

After yet another 60 metre sprint and try from Silk, the try was disallowed.

But the game went on and with solid defence from Jenna McKenzie and Danika Coddington the Diesels were restricted to their half of the field.

“Danika was once again incredible in defence, supporting her team mates as well as taking dives to shut down the Diesels,” captain McInerney said.

To finish off the first half was a quick combination from McInerney and Bruce, resulting in a try by Bruce that was successfully converted by Laura Eastlake.

But the Diesels had other ideas, a quick kick and chase on the half-time whistle.

“Jenna was not letting this happen, with a 40 metre chase-down and taking the tag and the girl off her feet with her speed,” McInerney said.

After a short break the girls were back into action and determined to keep a lead on the board.

Young’s Naomi Dawe was put in the centres where she produced some new plays and gained ground for the Cherryettes.

Junee were quick to take advantage of an unsuccessful play by Young, breaking through the defensive line and making a sprint for the gold. But skillful play on Mikayla Basham’s behalf cut Junee’s moment short.

However the Cherryettes were caught off guard and let the Diesels slip through to take the score to 10-6.

The points were tight and with time ticking away the girls in red, white and blue knuckled down.

Before long the ball was back in Junee territory and the Young side knew they needed to take advantage of the moment.

A quick offload by Bruce put McInerney straight under the goal posts to record their third try of the match. A successful conversion by Eastlake took the score to 16-6.

The Diesels were quick to respond and narrowed the score to 16-10.

Young went into attack mode with four minutes left on the clock, and after several passes Rolfe broke through Junee’s defence to secure yet another try for the Cherryettes. Eastlake was successful in converting the try from the sideline to take the final score to 22-10.

“For the last four minutes the girls worked incredible as a team and defended super well with sportsmanship and determination what kept Junee to 10,” McInerney said.

Coach Lee Hardy was also excited at the result. 

“[It’s a] deserving result for a great bunch of girls who have been training their butts off two nights a week since January,” he said.

Ashley Rolfe was awarded Players Player.