Peel Thunderbirds league coach Mark Fenton said his side performed admirably, despite going down 7.10 (52) to 2.1 (13) against East Fremantle on Sunday.
In a game where the scoreboard failed to reflect the tightness of general play, Fenton said he was thrilled with his side’s effort.
“I’m very happy with the way our girls performed against one of the more powerful sides in the competition,” he said.
“We lacked some polish in our forward line but aside from that it was a very encouraging game.”
Peel started the game well, keeping East Fremantle goalless for the majority of the first term.
But the Thunderbirds allowed a goal late in the quarter which gave the opposition a one-point lead at first the break.
The second and third terms saw East Fremantle run away with the lead on the scoreboard, but Fenton said that failed to reflect the competitiveness of the match.
“We had a really strong third quarter, but unfortunately we just couldn’t put a score on the board,” he said.
“I thought the girls controlled the ball well and if it wasn’t for a few simple errors we would have been right back in the match.”
The fourth term was an even affair as East Fremantle finished with the win.
Fenton was especially impressed with the work of his midfield, who won the majority of centre clearances.
“We tend to win the clearance battle against sides lower than us on the ladder and lose it to the top teams, so to win the majority against a side as strong as East Freo is a real positive,” he said.
“Our half back line was also really good – they played a huge role in us controlling a lot of the play around the ground.”
Despite the 39-point loss, Peel uncovered a new talent with Abby Barnden playing in the ruck.
Barnden managed a goal and helped her side find first use of the ball.
“That was the first time we had ever put Abby in the ruck and she was really impressive in that role,” Fenton said.
But injury was added to insult in Peel’s loss, with star player Georgia Perry going down with a broken leg.
The Thunderbirds will now look to bounce back when they take on top-of-the-table Coastal Titans at home next week.