GET BACK HERE: Emeri’s Melinda Foschi looks to escape the tag of a defender at Ted Scobie Oval.
EMERI Pink has begun its campaign for a Griffith Touch Football title in perfect fashion, cruising to a 5-1 victory in women's division 1/2 on Monday night at Ted Scobie Oval.
Despite being down six players, Natalina's gave a good account of themselves and showed signs that when they get back to full-strength, they will be a tough team to beat.
Emeri looked to have scored in the early going when Mel Bonetti made a long break, only to be tagged on the line, much to her bemusement.
Raechel Lyon looked dangerous early with ball in hand for Natalina's and her attacking runs continued to be hard for Emeri to shut down the entire game.
Natalina's opened their account when Isabella Barbaro was put into a yawning gap and raced half the length of the field to earn herself her team's first touchdown of the season.
However, back-to-back penalties by Natalina's on their own line for off-side put them under pressure, with only good communication and desperate defence keeping them from giving up their slim lead.
Melinda Foschi made the most of another penalty given up by Natalina's to scoot over from in close as the defence stood still to bring the teams level.
Bonetti did finally get her name on the score sheet when she expertly sliced through a slight gap to give her side the small lead, one they would not let go of.
Kara Howard looked destined to score for the leaders only to be stopped by dogged defence, but Emeri carried all of the momentum as they went into the break 2-1.
Emeri's advantage of extra substitutes began to tell in the second half as they extended their lead to two, with Bonetti's second seeing the game threaten to be a blow out.
The handling for both sides had been crisp for the first game of the season, but that began to fall away in the second half, giving each team a chance of attacking from in close, but the damage had already been done by Emeri who deserved their four-touchdown win.