The 2022B GWFFPL finals series commences with the following AFLW Round 9 matchups Darmstadt (1st, 7-1, 6804) @WillH_VI vs Lima (4th – 4-4, 6451) @hoschke118 H2H – Darmstadt 0 : Lima 3 (never played in finals) Finals Record – Darmstadt making their finals debut, Lima 0-1 The minor premiers versus the team who gave the competition a head start by going 0-3 in the opening 3 weeks but showed their class to make the top 4. Lima dominate the H2H and prevailed at home to Darmstadt in Round 6 but will need to bring down a Dynamos side that are undefeated at home in season 2022B. Darmstadt will be out for revenge and boast the highest averaging offense as well as the lowest averaging defence, so can tighten the screws at both ends provided that they can win the ball out of the middle. Kyoto (2nd, 6-2, 6715) @FreoDockers vs Majorca (3rd, 5-3, 6583) TTH H2H – Kyoto 3 : Majorca 1 (never played in finals) Finals Record – Kyoto 0-1, Majorca 1-1 (as Las Vegas) A fierce but friendly rivalry plays out in the other elimination final as 2nd placed Kyoto hosts the 3rd placed Majorca. Kyoto are well ahead in the H2H and are undefeated (6-0) against any team other than Darmstadt this season which suggests that the Islanders will be needing to bring the biff and made it a physical slugfest if they are to bridge the gap in class and make it through to the 2022B big dance. Friday matches start at 540pm so please get your teams sorted early in the week and then tweak as further teams drop. As per previous weeks the Premier League lockout will be the latest Saturday night match.
Just the one change for the Dynamos heading into the home final, with Bella Dawes coming in for Jacqui Yorston. Good luck to all the finalists!
Kyoto are sweating on the fitness of Ebony Antonio who may or may not be named this weekend for her debut game in Season 7. However the coach (i.e. me) has other duties this weekend and wont be available until Sunday so the Kruisers will go in with just the one change in the lineup from last week to take on the Islanders @TheTassieHawk. Best of luck mate Def: Charlie Thomas, Hannah Priest, Lauren Butler (Sarah Lampard) Mid: Mimi Hill, Maddy Prespakis, Amy McDonald, Jenna Bruton (Jasmine Fleming) Ruck: Alice Edmonds (Celine Moody) Fwd: Kate Surman, Daria Bannister, Tarni Brown (Kate Shierlaw) IC: Alison Drennan, Jess Fitzgerald (Dana East) In: Kate Surman Out: Kate Shierlaw
It's a close one between Darmstadt and Lima. Despite some late heroics from Conti (124), my count has the Llamas up 829 - 819
Bugger, looks like the Kruisers won't be heading to the big dance next weekend - well done @TheTassieHawk and it seems a nervous wait in store for the other match!
It would appear that my normally sturdy defence has let me down this week - 12 to the injured Schleicher, 29 to Gilroy and 43 to Lynch isn't getting it done in a final! Well played Lima Llamas, Darmstadt will be looking forward to a strong next season with some midfield reinforcements returning!
Week 1 of the Premier League 2022B Finals saw the visiting teams take the spoils - each managing to win away from home to upset the heavily favoured top 2 sides. In South Western Germany a tight finish culminating in a slender 8 point margin left the home fans @WillH_VI in hysterics and the visiting fans @hoschke118 on top of the world. Lima were the longest of long odds to make the finals, let alone win through to their first Grand Final, after an 0-3 start to the season but having taken down the minor premiers twice in 2 matches since then and have shown that they have rediscovered the form of previous seasons and are a game away from achieving the holy grail of their first GWFFPL Premiership. In Japan the Kyoto side @FreoDockers fell to their second successive prelim final defeat, having been dominated in the middle with the Islanders gaining first use via Ally Anderson and Bella Lewis before locking down the game late in the contest and prevailing by 34 points in a torrid matchup. The Dynamos and Kruisers fine seasons show that they will be right amongst the Premier League contenders in 2023 however season 2022B will see either Lima or Majorca create history and engrave their name onto the coveted GWFFPL trophy for the first time.