Tara Murray
Things have started to fall into place for Roxburgh Park in the Essendon District Football League women’s division 2 competition.
It was a slow start in terms of wins for the Magpies in their return to having a women’s side, but have become finals contenders in recent weeks.
The Magpies became the first team to knock the Sunbury Lions off before backing it up and beating the Sunbury Kangaroos.
Magpies coach Kevin Allan said they were really excited about where they were heading.
“We’re getting better each week,” he said. “I wanted to coach women to play football properly.
“I think the reaction to that is what we’re seeing. They’re getting better each week.”
Allan, who has been coaching since he was 18, said he has never enjoyed being involved with football more than he has now.
He said the turning point of their season was the match against Taylors Lakes which they just lost despite having only 15 players.
It flowed into the following matches and resulted in some good wins.
“Against the Sunbury Lions we knew they had a couple of players out but we knew that we were facing a reasonable side,” he said.
“It was enough to get the win against them and we kept it low key. We then found out they had the captain of the Calder Cannons back and another player from Cannons.
“We grew in confidence and we knew we were on the right track.
“Against the Sunbury Kangaroos there were a lot of nerves about the game. They had five out, but we were still cautious. I was gobsmacked with the way we weren’t about it.”
Allan said he’d seen improvement across all lines and that the belief was growing in the group.
He said the closeness of the group was also showing on the field.
The Magpies have the weekend off with no women’s matches across the board in the EDFL.
Allan said it had come at a perfect time for the team after a physical game against the Kangaroos.
The Magpies sit in third spot, just a game off top.
Finals would be icing on the cake for their first season back.
“No matter what they achieve this year, we will be better for it next year,” Allan said.
“We have two of our three games at home, which will help a little.”
The Magpies will face Coburg Districts next week.
