Finals football loomed large on the final day of minor round games in the TIO NTFL's Women's Premier League. On the field the chasing pack excelled, with second-placed St Mary's winning their 12th match in 13 starts at the expense of a young Wanderers side and Waratah keeping a youthful Palmerston Magpies scoreless.
Defending premier the Darwin Buffettes kicked 18 goals to one against Southern Districts and Nightcliff returned to the winners' list with a 57-point win over the Tiwi Bombers.
Jemma Iacono, Billie Byers and 11-goal spearhead Kaitlyn Armstrong were dominant in St Mary's 80-point win over Wanderers, a win coach Paul Magher described as a match of opportunity for players hoping to make the starting 18 in the finals.
"We gave a few players an opportunity in place of injured players and they did well, Hannah Fosbrooke was one of them,'' he said.
"We tried a few other players in different positions and Kaitlyn bagged a lazy 11 to win the league goalkicking medal, so it was a good day.''
Waratah had 11 goalkickers in its 169-point win over Palmerston Magpies at Cazaly's Arena.
Tah’s trio Nikki Watts, Brittany Daly and Annabel Kievit dominated the midfield, while Megan Hunt (5) and Lisa Miceli (4) benefitted from the amount of leather coming down from the middle of the ground.
Coach Heidi Thompson said the win and contributions from every player on the ground were big plusses on the eve of her side's qualifying final against the in-form St Mary's this week.
"Beating Palmerston by such a big margin was a massive confidence boost going into the double chance game against Saints,'' she said.
The Darwin Buffettes stretched their legs against Southern Districts by holding the Crocodiles to a single last quarter goal at TIO Stadium.
Imahra Cameron continued her hot run of form for Darwin with another big game out of the middle while Molly Althouse in the ruck and silken skilled Machaelia Roberts across half forward were other good contributors.
Coach Melinda Taylor said a different Buffettes side would run on to TIO Stadium next Saturday for the elimination final against Nightcliff.
"We're quietly confident we can go a long way in the finals, particularly when the side that runs out on Saturday will be a whole lot better with the players coming back,'' Taylor said.
Nightcliff looked like a finals side in its win over the enthusiastic Tiwis, Mickayla Ward, five-goal forward Cassie McWilliam and Christy Landwehr leading the way in the 12.10 (82) to 3.7 (25) win.
Last season's grand finalists were coming off successive losses to sides above them in St Mary's, the Buffettes and PINT and showed enough to suggest a close encounter against the reigning premier in the knockout final..
Top-of-the-ladder PINT were not in action in terms of premiership points, but they played a practice match against VFL side Port Melbourne at DXC Arena in a bid to remain match hardened.
