Swan Districts women claim premiership doubleMonday, August 26, 2013 - 1:08 PM

SWAN Districts capped off a historical year for women's football by winning both the reserves and league Grand Finals on the weekend for the first time for the club.

Lead by number 3 pick in the AFL Women's Draft Chelsea Randall, Swans overcame a 15-point deficit midway through the final quarter to storm home over reigning league Premiers, Coastal Titans. 

The reigning Premiers were slow out of the blocks as Swans dominated the opening stages of the first quarter, kicking the first of the match through Fiona Boucher before the Titans had a chance to go forward.

The Titans soon settled, however, and Jodie White's perfectly weighted pass to Aimee Schmidt inside 50 gave the Titans a one point lead heading into the first change.

Play opened up a bit in the second quarter after Trisha Ramsay slotted the Titans second within a minute of play resuming.

Megan Boddington immediately responded for Swans before Renee Forth provided one of the highlights of the day, taking a courageous mark and calmly kicking the goal to showcase why she too was selected by Melbourne in the AFL Women's draft.

Not to be outdone, Shelley Matcham, who had been providing run and spark for much of the opening quarter broke two tackles and snapped from 30-out to keep Swans right in the contest at the main break.

It was a tale of what could have been for the Titans, who dominated for the majority of the third quarter but only managed to kick three points from a number of chances. Kellie Gibson threatened to make them pay when she had a shot in the final minute of the quarter, but she too missed, leaving the Coastal Titans three-points up with only a quarter remaining.

A tight, physical opening to the final quarter saw both teams deadlocked until Jodie White kicked the Titans fifth to give them what seemed to be an insurmountable lead with only 15 minutes to play.

However, as they did for most of the day, Swans refused to lie down. Rhonda Williams capped off a fabulous passage of play to kick her first for the match, and when the number 5 pick in the AFL Draft, Kara Donnellan, helped score Swans their fifth goal through relentless pressure it was game on at Brownes Stadium.

After leading all day, the Titans suddenly looked tired and when Ashley Sharp dribbled through her first for the game the Swans hit the front for the first time since the opening quarter.

The Titans refused to lie down and came within meters of stealing the win, but a Chelsea Randall defensive mark deep into the final minute put an end to the hopes of the Titans quest for back-to-back flags, going down to Swan Districts by three points.

Swan Districts player Kellie Gibson was awarded best on ground and received the Louise Knitter medallion as voted by the umpires.

The historical win was the second of it's kind for the day for the Swans, who took out the reserves premiership earlier in the day in emphatic style.

After a tight first half the Swans lead was only a straight kick, but a goal to Emily Stott  that was quickly followed by another Swans goal opened up a 16-point lead at the final break in a low scoring game.

Charlene Headland crumbed the first goal of the final quarter and when Rikki Ryder kicked the next, the Swannies chant rung around the stands as the crowd began to realise it would be virtually impossible for the Titans to come back.

With only seconds to go the players on the bench began to celebrate the first Grand Final win in the club's history. Headland gave them more reason to celebrate as she put through her second for the quarter moments before the siren sounded to crown Swans champions.

Despite the loss, Titans number 33 Jay Hockley was recognised by the umpires for her courage and skill and awarded the medal for best on ground.

It was a bitter-sweet win for Hockley though, with both the flags and smiles heading back to Steel Blue Oval for the night.