The Bacchus Marsh women’s football side appears to be putting a slow off season behind it.
A team that was struggling for players early on has brought in several recruits in recent weeks and they appear to be making their mark.
The Cobras started the season with a loss to Sunbury Kangaroos, but were competitive.
On Saturday, in the second round of the grading games, they beat Redan 9.5 (59)-2.1 (13).
Madalyn Clarke kicked six goals to be best on ground, along with Melissa Halliday and Donna Yeatman.
A decision on which division teams will contest is expected this week.
The Cobras are expected to play in division two of the AFL Goldfields women’s competition.
Team manager Rod Bertram said the Cobras were aiming for a competitive season.
“We lost a few players last year and we’ve now gained a few new players,” he said.
“The numbers are improving after they looked shaky at the start.”
This is the third year the Cobras have had a women’s side.
The team is coached by Hayley Gossow, who spent time with Collingwood’s AFLW side as an assistant coach.
Bertram said while the Cobras would like to make the finals, as they have in the past two years, it wasn’t the main aim of the senior side.
“We’re still relatively new and have players still learning the game,” he said.
He said two of the new players, Elise Korteman and Yeatman, had impressed in the first two games.
The Cobras have two players in Geelong’s VFL women’s side, Emily Crawford and Abbey Bertram.
Bertram said they had made a focus of trying to get the girls’ side involved with the women’s team, including scheduling junior games before the women’s matches.
In other senior women’s action, Melton Centrals had a tough day against early division 1 premiership favourites North Geelong Magpies.
Centrals failed to score in the 20.20 (150)-0.0 (0) loss.
In youth girls, Melton Centrals defeated Bacchus Marsh 11.16 (82)-1.2 (8).
Western Jets representative Emmerson Hitch kicked four goals for Centrals in a best-on-ground performance.
