MANY of the faces might have changed, but one constant for the Bendigo Thunder during their season opener against Darebin at the QEO was the story on the scoreboard.
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Seven months after dominating the regular season in the former Victorian Women's Football League, the Thunder claimed its first scalp in the new Northern Football League Women's competition with an impressive 91 point win.
The Thunder, led by seven-goal key forward Andrea Walsh and Ayrlea Bailey-Mcclanahan (six goals), defeated the Falcons 17.6 (108) to 2.5 (17).
Second-year Thunder coach Cherie O'Neill said her side was keen to make an early statement after a massive and eager pre-sesaon.
"The girls really put together a great game," she said.
"The scoreboard probably doesn't reflect it, but Darebin really made the girls work for the footy.
"We spoke a bit before the game about just applying what we do at training and working on our structure and our football would just do the rest.
"They lost it a bit in the second quarter and got a bit panicky, when they had ther ball in their 50 for a little while, but they quickly turned that around."
The Thunder got outstanding contributions from star on-baller Tiahna Cochrane, Amanda Carrod, and Walsh and Bendigo Spirit basketballer Kerryn Harrington both on debut.
Darebin had no answer in defence for Walsh and Bailey-Mcclanahan, who combined to contribute 13 goals.
O'Neill said the win was a credit to the hard work her players had put in over the summer.
"It's nice to have the pre-season over and season started," she said.
"The girls are now starting to get some rewards Hopefully we can build on that now and set up a great season."
The match, which was the first of five currently scheduled for the QEO, attracted a good crowd.
The Thunder meet Melbourne University in Melbourne next Sunday.
In other NFLW's results, Victoria University Western Spurs defeated Deer Park by 41 points and Diamond Creek defeated La Trobe University by 148 points.
