Sport
8 April, 2025
Giants fight hard in 12-goal loss to Bulldogs
Despite a major early scare from the Maryborough Giants, Avoca started their quest for a three-peat with a 12-goal victory.
AVOCA (54) def MARYBOROUGH GIANTS (42)
The visitors were keen to reign on the premiers parade, starting the match with a 6-1 with young gun Lacey Broad scoring all six goals.
Avoca was able to compose themselves after a rough opening two minutes, but Broad continued her torrid shooting pace, scoring 12 goals to hand the Giants a four-goal advantage at the end of the first quarter.
After the Giants threw down the gauntlet, Avoca responded with a commanding second quarter, outscoring the Giants 17-3 including a 15-1 run to end the quarter.
Avoca shooters Egan and Gina Beavis had 27 shots in the second quarter to the Giants four, giving themselves a 26-16 advantage at the main break.
The Giants needed to respond big time to turn the contest around, and playing coach Annalyse Carroll made the tough decision to sub herself off halfway through the second quarter after some uncharacteristic misses for Abbey Devereaux.
The change started to pay dividends, as the Giants started to keep pace with Avoca’s attack, outscoring the Bulldogs 16-14 in the third term to reduce the margin to eight.
Despite the strong showing in the third, the Giants couldn’t keep it up to start the fourth, as Egan scored the first five goals to give the Bulldogs an advantage they didn’t relinquish.
Egan was the game's top scorer, making 43 goals at a 75 percent shooting percentage while teammate Beavis scored 11 at 61 percent.
Broad led the way for the Giants in the scoring department, racking up 31 goals at nearly 80 percent while Devereaux made the most of her opportunities, scoring seven from eight shots. Carrol also made four goals from nine shots.