Featuring Cowra Blues player Sarah Day and with Luke Le Page as co-coach, the Central West women's rep side put up a huge effort last Saturday, but it was not enough to help them win their inaugural representative match.
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Instead it was hosts Sapphire Coast who finished full of running at Nowra on Saturday, coming from behind to snatch a 7-2-44 to 5-6-36 victory.
Central West held the edge on the scoreboard for much of the match, but the physical challenge of playing 18-minute quarters told.
As the clock kicked down, Sapphire Coast delivered the ball over the heads of the Central West defenders to their forwards inside 50. Even then it took a major grubber off the ground to sink the visitors.
"In the last quarter it showed, we just couldn't keep up, and I think Sapphire Coast are just natural runners, they ran all over us in the last quarter," Eagles coach Jayarna Kay said.
While beaten, Kay and her co-coach Le Page were proud of the debut performance.
Prior to the representative fixture, the Central West outfit only had two training sessions.
But having bonded via social media, they had what Kay labelled 'a buddy system' on-field for rotations.
It saw the midfielders, wingers and players across centre-half-back swapping in and out to help them get on top.
Central West did not concede a single point in the first term and even after Sapphire Coast rallied in the second quarter, Kay's side led 3-2-20 to 2-1-13 at the long break.
The Eagles won the third quarter as well, but fatigue told in the end.
"You wouldn't even think, you wouldn't even pick it that these girls only came together two weeks ago," Kay said.
"You would have thought they'd been playing together all season."
- SAPPHIRE COAST 7-2-44 def CENTRAL WEST 5-6-36 (Beth Durham 3, Mariah Gilchrist, Brooke Alexander)
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