SWFL: Bunbury women one win from unbeaten season after eight-point semifinal thriller against Busselton

Bunbury’s all-conquering women’s side are only one win away from an invincible season after notching an eight-point victory over Busselton in Saturday’s second semifinal at Bovell Park. Forced to head to the Magpies’ home ground for the contest due to their league side earning hosting rights for the day, the reigning premiers best handled inclement weather marked by blustery winds and rolling drizzle to come away with a 2.3 (15) to 1.1 (7) victory in a low-scoring affair. The reigning premiers will enter the season decider having not tasted defeat all season long and riding a 22-game winning streak dating back to last July. Meanwhile, Busselton — who have now lost their last four contests against Bunbury — will need to overcome Donnybrook in Sunday’s preliminary final to ensure they feature in the grand final for the fourth year running. The two sides were separated by only two points at the final break after managing to kick just one goal apiece across the first three quarters but the competition’s leading goal-kicker Daisy Rigby came up clutch for the Bulldogs in the final term, making no mistake with a tough set shot which all but sealed the victory. The dominance of Kloe Bassett and Ebony Bilcich through the middle of the ground for the winners proved the difference in the game, with Bassett particularly brilliant in her 100th appearance for the Bulldogs. In her own 50th appearance for the Magpies, Maddy Obal led a Busselton effort which was well-organised defensively but struggled to produce much by way of offensive impetus. The visitors dominated the game’s early exchanges but Busselton’s resolute defence consistently denied them clear-cut scoring opportunities. The Magpies managed to make a foray deep into their attacking 50 in the term’s latter stages but it amounted to nothing and the teams entered the first break knotted without a score. With Busselton opting to keep a spare player behind the ball and Bunbury using their numerical advantage at the contest, the second term followed a familiar theme — the Bulldogs had the game largely on their terms, but were not able to use their momentum to generate chances on goal. The contest was crying out for a moment of individual quality and it finally came when Bilcich showed her class to cleanly gather a loose ball and kick the Bulldogs’ first goal of the day in the minutes leading into the main break. Not content to defend their meagre lead, the visitors spent much of the quarter launching yet more attacks the Magpies were able to repel. But throwing numbers forward left them open for a Busselton counterpunch which ended in Ellie Merrett slotting a set shot to finally give them a goal and set up a blockbuster finish. Bunbury continued to do much of the attacking in the game’s final term and were rewarded when Rigby claimed a mark on the lead and thumped home what proved to be the sealer.