The Western Ravens have started the 2023 Women’s Season with a huge 71 point win over the Northern Storm.
The First game of the season saw the introduction of both the Western Ravens and the Northern Storm to the AFL New Zealand Women’s Premiership Competition. The Northern Storm started strongly, maintaining good forward pressure, but the Ravens ball movement up the ground gave them an abundance of shots on goal, with forwards Angela Byrne and Makenna Jones able to convert to give the Ravens a commanding 18 point lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Storm managed to get a goal back in the 2nd quarter through a great shot from Kristin Farrell, but the Ravens continued to work the ball up the field taking aim with a further scoring shots, converting a further two goals to extend their leave out to 28 at the half time break.
The Ravens took complete control in the 3rd quarter, keeping the Storm scoreless and key forwards Angela Byrne and Makenna Jones continuing to pile on points as the Ravens scored 6 goals to go up by 68. The Storm persevered to finally convert on their forward entries in the fourth but the earlier damage had secured a result for the Ravens come away with an emphatic Round 1 victory.
The Hero
Naia Toaolamai-Holden was a stand out for the Ravens. Her movement and skills both with and without ball in hand lead to many scoring opportunities throughout the game.
The Support Crew
Indy Gibson and Angela Byrne played a big role in the Ravens win. Angela scored 5 of the Ravens 12 goals missing very few shots. Indy is a talented young player, a strong defender and equally capable on attack, she is an exciting talent to look out for in future rounds.
The Consolation Effort
Northern Storms, Ronja Pfeiffer may not have been given many opportunities up front to take shots on goal, but she worked hard to improve her teams chances of scoring and kept pushing the entire game.
Quarter Time: Ravens 3 2 20 Storm 0 2 2
Half Time: Ravens 5 6 36 Storm 1 2 8
3 Quarter Time: Ravens 11 10 76 Storm 1 2 8
Full Time: Ravens 12 15 87 Storm 2 4 16
Goal Scorers
Western Ravens: Angela Byrne 5, Makenna Jones 4, Olivia Waldron 3,
Southern Saints: Kristin Farrell 1,
