VFLW Match Report: Round 11 vs Western Bulldogs

27/07/2026

We travelled to Mission Whitten Oval to take on the Western Bulldogs on a grey and overcast Saturday morning for Round 11 of our VFLW campaign, and despite leading for almost the entirety of the contest after quarter time, we were denied the four points in the cruellest of fashion.

Our brilliant efforts across all four quarters came undone with the final kick of the game, as the Bulldogs found the latest of late winners as we went down 5.2 (32) to 5.5 (35).

The Bulldogs looked on fire early and we were quickly on the back foot, with the opening centre clearance going the way of the home side, who locked it inside their own half before booting the opening goal of the contest inside two minutes.

But just as quickly we showed off our own ability at the coalface, with Courtney Aughtie delivering a brilliant tap down from the subsequent centre bounce, which was calmly collected by Sunday Hollingsworth, who distributed brilliantly to a running Ali Hynes on the outside.

Hynes’ handball over the top to Kera Galaminda Gellar released our dynamo small forward into space at the top of the 50-metre arc, and there was no stopping her from there, as she sent the ball sailing through the middle of the big sticks to give us the quickest of replies less than a minute after the Dogs’ first.

Slippery conditions made territory important in the early stages, and we controlled it for much of the next 10 minutes with the ball living inside our half, however, for all the repeat entries we generated, we were unable to capitalise, with the Dogs doing just enough on the last line on multiple occasions, before a fast break out the back saw them go coast to coast, scoring a second major against the run of play.

We would again look to be the more threatening side from the restart, with Felicity Hilford getting involved around stoppage and acting Captain Deanna Jolliffe coming forward strongly off half back to help keep the ball down our end.

The sustained pressure finally resulted in a goal, though in unconventional fashion, as a forward 50 stoppage saw the ball spill to Hollingsworth who was tackled as she attempted to kick, but the ball bounced off her knee and across the line to once again tie up the contest.

It was all square at quarter time, however, it felt as though we should be slightly in front given our dominance, and that is exactly what transpired in the second term.

Hollingsworth and Aughtie were once again lively to start the second quarter, helping us dominate at stoppage, while Isobel Hartog was also amongst the action in the opening stages, as we yet again went forward after winning the centre clearance.

We were under siege for the first half of the second term, as the Bulldogs enjoyed some ascendancy and forced us to defend, though Alana Porter and Sophie Casey joined Jolliffe in creating a brick wall down back, denying the home side any score from their multiple forays forward.

We took the lead midway through the term after an Aughtie snap from the boundary snuck through for a behind, and while the game once again was played for long periods between the arcs, we were able to kick the only goal of the term late.

Winning a holding the ball free kick in the defensive half, Chelsea Sutton was the beneficiary of a 50-metre penalty to bring her within range for a set shot, and while her initial attempt went out of bounds off hands for a throw in, she showed plenty of skill to rove the ball from the resulting stoppage and snap it through with just over a minute remaining in the half.

We entered the rooms ahead 3.1 (19) to the Bulldogs’ 2.0 (12) after a brilliant defensive term saw us keep the home side scoreless, and while we emerged from the rooms up for the fight in the third quarter, we were once again placed under stress.

The Dogs were playing a much more attacking brand of football after the break, moving the ball with speed and making life difficult for our defence, though they continued to stand up well, with Zoe Barbakos and Jolliffe continually repelling the opposition attacks, while also restricting the Bulldogs to just two behinds despite the repeated entries.

Our strong defensive efforts soon paid off as we forced a rare stoppage inside our own forward 50 after a 50-metre penalty brought us out of defence, and against the grain we snared our fourth, as Aughtie grabbed the ball out of the ruck and kicked towards goal, where Emma Stuber beat her opponent one-on-one to snap truly and extend our lead to a game-high 11 points with only two minutes remaining before three-quarter time.

We were unable to take the 11-point lead into the break, though, as the Bulldogs went forward from the ball up and scored twice – one goal and one behind – to cut our advantage back to four points as we entered the huddle for the final time.

The final term was a see-sawing one, and while we traded behinds early, we soon extended our lead back to double digits after Hartog kicked the first major of the quarter with six minutes gone, going off the ground in the goal square to give us a 10-point advantage.

It would be a short-lived reprieve, though, as the Dogs began to press, and while our defence stood up admirably, the dam wall eventually broke, with the home side snaring a goal to cut our lead to less than a kick with eight minutes left on the clock.

The Dogs continued to test our defence, sending a set shot wide to again eat into the margin, which now stood at three points in our favour, as we looked to close out the final five minutes without conceding.

For four minutes and 40 seconds we were resolute, tackling desperately and throwing everything at the Dogs in defence of our lead, but in the cruellest of fashion, we were sunk with the final kick of the game, as the home side snapped one out of the pack to take the lead with 10 seconds left on the clock, the siren sounding before the ball could be tossed up again.

We will look to bounce back when we take on Williamstown next week at Wilson Storage Trevor Barker Beach Oval on Sunday, August 2 at 10am.

Scores

Sandringham: 2.0, 3.1, 4.1, 5.2 (32)

Western Bulldogs: 2.0, 2.0, 3.3, 5.5 (35)

Goals: Sutton, Stuber, Hollingsworth, Hartog, Galaminda Gellar

Disposals: Aughtie 18, Taylor 17, Jolliffe 16

Visit the VFLW website for full stats