Sport
21 April, 2026
Destructive second term powers Avoca past Giants
Under the watchful eye of their new 2025 premiership banner, an authoritative second quarter allowed the Avoca Bulldogs to cruise past the Maryborough Giants with a 50-goal victory.
As the Giants entered the second term looking to cut down their manageable nine-goal first quarter deficit, the Bulldogs accelerated away with a devastating 24-3 period.
Avoca proceeded to control the contest from there as they replicated last season’s qualifying final victory over the Giants.
After missing the reigning premiers’ season opener against Newstead, club legend Stacey Blair returned alongside Ellie Meagher.
As for the Giants, they added some extra depth in their defence and midcourt with the inclusions of junior Amelia Reynolds and Maddison Smith.
While interceptions from Caitlin Drummond and Ella Patten gave Avoca control early, the Giants remained stubborn towards the hosts’ advances.
Macey Parry and Alisha Hovey in particular were denying the Bulldogs of their typically smooth offensive tempo in the midcourt.
Despite entering quarter time with a replica of their round one score, Avoca felt unfulfilled by their 16-7 lead after the opening period.
Following some slight quarter time tweaks, Avoca came out of the short interval at their dominant best.
After switching their assignment, Drummond and Patten used their noticeable height advantage on Giants shooters Bridget Allan and Laura McStravick to swat away or intercept virtually every pass intended for Allan and McStravick that wasn’t centimetre perfect.
That gave Blair, Lucy Howell and Jaimee Mathieson more opportunities to wear out the Giants midcourt with their ball movement, while Maddy Egan and Gina Steel compounded the pressure with their elite shooting.
The Giants were unable to answer the mounting challenge in the second quarter, allowing the Bulldogs to briskly expand their advantage to 30 goals by the end of the first half.
Allowing to regroup during the half time interval, the visitors refound their form in the third quarter, headlined by some great interventions by Riahni Egan and Allan making arguably the play of the day by bouncing a throw-in off the goal post to herself to create a shooting opportunity.
Despite those bright spots, the Giants couldn’t make any inroads into the Bulldogs substantial lead, with the premiership holders taking a 40-goal lead into three-quarter time.
Combining for a further 18 goals in the fourth quarter, Egan and Steel finished with 56 and 20 goals respectively as Avoca completed a commanding 76-26 victory.
Giants player-coach McStravick led her team in scoring in the defeat with 17 goals. Allan and Egan were the other scorers for the Giants, with Allan making eight and Egan adding one.