Sunbury Lions Youth girls have exceeded expectations in the Western Youth girls competition this year.
Fielding two sides for the first time, the Lions have made both the under-18 and under-15 finals.
Youth girls coach Ron Sikora said that while the Lions had been an under-18 powerhouse for many years, the instant success in the under-15s came as a shock.
“We put in a big amount of work and, to the girls’ credit, it has been a massive success,” he said.
“We were just happy to fill an under-15 team and possibly win a couple of matches.”
On Sunday, the under-15 girls played in the elimination final against Caroline Springs after finishing third on the ladder.
Sikora was confident going into the match after beating Caroline Springs the last time they played despite having a couple of key players missing.
And his confidence was warranted, as the Lions won by 81 points.
Sikora said that no matter how the side went in the finals, they had become winners already just by making the finals.
The side will now play Westmeadows, who they defeated earlier in the season, in a semi final on Sunday.
The under-18 side had the weekend off after finishing second on the ladder.
They face Keilor in a semi-final on Sunday.
Sikora said the aim was to go further than last year.
“The girls have played since the inception and been in 11 grand finals,” he said. “The last two years are the only years we haven’t played in the grand final.
“We’ve already achieved the goal for the year, which was to make a semi-final, instead of an elimination final.
“Hopefully, we can go one game further and make the grand final.”
Sikora said he hoped the success of having two sides would lead to an under-12 girls team next year.
He said they had already started putting the word out at Auskick centres.
The Lions’ senior women’s side sealed its finals spot in the Victorian Women’s Football League division 2 competition with one round remaining by beating Cranbourne on Saturday.
The Lions dominated the scoreboard winning, 8.10 (58)-1.0 (6).
Iesha Lauaki kicked three goals, while Peita Price was best on ground.
The Lions are in fourth spot, a game and 65 percentage points ahead of South Morang.
