GSFLW 2024: Fast-finishing Mt Barker come from the clouds to beat Railways in rousing elimination final bout

A late-charging Mt Barker side booked their spot in next week’s Great Southern Football League Women’s grand final after a brutal 60 minutes of preliminary finals football against Railways on Friday evening. The Bulls spent the first three quarters blowing numerous chances in front of goal and looked destined to rue each miss. But after trailing for most of the game, they somehow found another gear in the final 15 minutes and surged to a spectacular 2.9 (21) to 2.1 (13) triumph at Sounness Park. With numerous Sharks players in the crowd getting an early look at their grand final opponents, both teams were far from full strength with the Bulls missing Kiarni Stevens, Evie Waddington, Libby Morris and Anne-Marie Bergsma (all injured) while the Tigers were without Tayla Volka (illness), Lily Trovato (ankle) and Eboni Herbert (concussion). Despite neither side fielding their best team, the two sides still unleashed a bone-crunching encounter for a spot in next week’s decider. But when Tigers pair Jessica Fenton and Summer Carpenter clashed in a shocking friendly fire incident, forcing them both from the field, it left the Tigers with just 17 players midway through the third. Then Bulls’ star Chloe Semple booted one from inside the goal square on the stroke of three-quarter-time, cutting the deficit to just two points, shifting the momentum. The Bulls were again unable to capitalise on their front-half dominance early in the last, continually spraying shots on goal, however, they still managed to snatch a lead through a series of behinds. With minutes on the clock dwindling, Bulls star winger Kaitlin Eades converted a stunning running goal, handing her side an eight-point advantage and driving a dagger into the hearts of the Tiger faithful. Georgia Kowald was enormous in the ruck competing strongly in the air and at ground level while Sophie Richards and Eades battled through the midfield for a full four-quarter effort. Saige Askevold and Lilly Fiegert were both prolific on the half-back line intercepting and rebounding. Earlier, the match was played largely between the arcs but the Tigers drew first blood when midfield beast Kathryn Slattery’s line-breaking clearance led to a Chelsea Geddes soccer finish. The clearance machine then got in on the goal-scoring action when she burst out of a forward 50 stoppage and kicked truly to give her side a two-goal buffer heading into the first change. The Tigers were then not able to convert a major for the rest of the match. Evie Brenton-Reed and Claire McIntyre did a fantastic job at quelling Bulls spearhead Mikayla Balloch’s influence and were constantly thwarting their opponent’s offensive transition. Slattery was at her dominant best through the engine room but lacked polish with her skills and Ksharna Coyne provided brilliant speed on the outside of the contests. The Bulls will contend for premiership glory against the Sharks at Sounness Park on Friday at 6.45pm.