Diamond Creek Women’s 1 extended their dominant win streak in the NFNL Women’s competition with a strong 42-point victory over Darebin 1 at Plenty Park Oval.
Both the Creekers and the Falcons were 3-0 heading into what was an already a highly anticipated clash due to the healthy rivalry between both sides.
But ultimately, it was Diamond Creek who continued their winning start to season 2022, thanks to the 9.8 (62) to 3.2 (20) triumph.
The result gives the Creekers their 14th consecutive win in the competition, with their last loss being the 2019 Division 1 grand final.
In a special moment before the first bounce, both clubs acknowledged Creekers star Stacey Cross as the match marked her 200th in red and blue.
Cross was amongst the Creekers’ best as well as Chiara Nardo and Linda Thorpe while for Darebin, Julia Phung and Dallas Rowland were some of the strong contributors in the losing effort.
The contest got off to a fast start with Lauren Durante scoring Diamond Creek’s first goal within the opening 90 seconds of the game.
Stephanie Elarmaly responded for Darebin midway through the term before Diamond Creek bookended the quarter with a second major, courtesy of Cross, to lead 2.0 (12) to 1.1 (7) at quarter time.
The second quarter was played on Diamond Creek’s terms, scoring four unanswered majors to quickly put Darebin on the backfoot.
Dallas Rowland’s goal for the Falcons snapped Diamond Creek’s streak of dominance but it was their lone goal for the quarter as Linda Thorp added one more to the Creekers’ tally to give the home side a commanding 34-point lead at the main break.
After half time, Darebin cleaned up their act as they began to control the ball while also standing their ground in defensive 50 to halt multiple attacks from the Creekers.
Chloe Williams’ goal halfway through the term helped Darebin cut away at Diamond Creek’s lead and it was looking as though the visitors would have the momentum heading into the final quarter.
However, with their final push of the quarter, Diamond Creek added a goal via a tidy set shot from Chiara Nardo on the stroke of three-quarter time.
In the final quarter, Diamond Creek quickly regained control of the match, but conversion issues meant that they struggled to capitalise with their attacks on goal.
The Creekers also looked strong defensively when Darebin did have the ball, keeping them scoreless throughout the entire final term.
Linda Thorp slotted her second goal of the match late in the term to cue the celebrations for Diamond Creek and secure the impressive 42-point win.
