Diamond Creek through to VFL Women’s grand final with upset win over Darebin Falcons

TWO weeks after engineering Diamond Creek’s downfall in the NFLW grand final, Kerryn Harrington starred for the Creekers in a VFL women’s semi-final.

Alison Downie’s ruck work was pivotal to Diamond Creek’s upset win over Darebin Falcons. Picture: Stuart Milligan.

TWO weeks ago, Kerryn Harrington helped engineer Diamond Creek’s downfall in the Northern Football League Division 1 women’s grand final.

Playing for Bendigo Thunder, Harrington was among the best players as her side clinched a historic premiership.

Harrington, a former basketballer who has signed with Carlton for the 2018 AFLW season, also played five games during the VFL Women’s campaign for Diamond Creek.

In her sixth match on Sunday, she was handed the task of stopping the competition’s premier key forward Katie Brennan.

Harrington was one of the best players on the ground in the Creekers’ upset 25-point win over reigning premier Darebin Falcons, keeping Brennan goalless.

“I’m not much of a sport scientist but I looked at Kezza’s GPS and in high-speed running she’s number one, she runs the furthest distance in 80 minutes and her peak speed is second behind Chloe Molloy,” coach Scott Gowans said.

“It made sense to play someone that could get off the mark and put pressure on KB’s possession.

“It wasn’t to stop her getting a possession, it was to put pressure on everything she did.”

Harrington shared the Bendigo Thunder best and fairest with Tiahna Cochrane on Friday night, another aspect of a memorable weekend for the former WNBL player.

However, she was far from the only hero in a dominant display from a determined Diamond Creek in Sunday’s semi-final.

Skipper Steph Chiocci produced several gut-busting runs from halfback, ruck Alison Downie was a dominant presence in the air, Reni Hicks kept a close eye on Daisy Pearce and Ashleigh Riddell’s courage in the clinches helped the Creekers win the midfield battle.

Diamond Creek stormed to a 32-point lead at halftime and maintained its position after the main break, with Darebin’s only goal to three-quarter-time from a 50m penalty.

The Falcons blew several chances to close the gap in the last quarter, booting 1.6 as the Creekers progressed to the grand final with a 7.4 (46) to 2.9 (21) victory at Coburg City Oval.

“They came out today and for 75 per cent of the game were really dominant,” Gowans said.

“Against Darebin, that’s really special.”

The victory marked a double celebration for Diamond Creek as co-captain Tanya Hetherington played her 150th match and was chaired from the field.

From fifth last season, Gowans has steered Diamond Creek directly to the decider where it will meet either Darebin or St Kilda Sharks at Etihad Stadium.