Grand final glory for AJAX girls

With a slender half-time lead of four behinds to two, the AJAX players spoke about not letting the opportunity to create a lifelong memory get away from them, and set out to stamp their authority on the match.

They lifted immediately in the third quarter, and excellent team- work in attack rewarded them with two amazing goals, kicked by Tahlia Hermann, increasing their lead to 18-3.

To their credit, Cheltenham fought back by keeping the Comets scoreless in the last quarter, while scoring an early goal and three behinds to reduce their deficit to just six points.

Desperate defence continued to serve the AJAX girls well, but there was still one last nervous moment to come.

Cheltenham were awarded a free kick after the full-time siren, about 30m out near the boundary, and a goal would have tied the scores … but they missed, sealing a premiership title for the Comets, who had dominated the regular season, winning eight of their nine games.

AJAX coach Phil Goldberg and assistant coach Yael Alford congratulated their troops for a well-deserved grand final triumph.

“What a game, what a season, what a great team effort and what a great bunch of girls,” Goldberg said.