Rain turned Harcourt Recreation Reserve into a slip-and-slide battlefield last Sunday, as the Mt Alexander Falcons and Melton Bloods put on one of the most spirited, fierce, and beautiful matches of the Riddell District Football League season.

With Pride colours on their guernseys and the churned-up oval turning the middle of the game into a grind, both teams reminded us why district football matters—not just to the players, but to the communities they represent.

This wasn’t just a Round 14 match. It was two fiercely inclusive teams, looking to make a point about how AFL should be played and who should be allowed to play it.

Both teams have been fighting through a long winter of injury, away games, and a relentless culture war that’s landed squarely on the shoulders of women’s community sport in Victoria. But out on that field, in the cold and the mud, the Falcons and the Bloods showed exactly what courage and inclusion can look like.

The first quarter saw Mt Alexander come out swinging. From the first ball-up, it was clear the Falcons weren’t here to play safe—but here to play fast. Mt Alexander shrugged off caution, took Melton by surprise, and with flashes of speed and deft ball movement delivered cleanly out of a damp midfield.

Ella Hayes and Lib Baker carved early space, feeding ball after ball into the steady hands of forwards Hayley Johnson and the unflappable Lil Waters. It was a winning play that kept the Falcons’ pressure on as the scoreboard ticked over.

Tash Ross-Harris, Soph Foster, and Mary Koeko each booted through successive goals. It was without doubt the best first quarter Mt Alexander had put together all season, going into the break 30–0.

But Melton adjusted quickly. Tightening up around the contest, the Bloods found traction in the second quarter, denying the Falcons their first-quarter speed and previous goal alchemy. Successive contests saw the Bloods reclaim the midfield and find just that little bit extra, scoring two goals and two behinds in the second to clip the Falcons’ wings and bring it to 32–14.

With the Harcourt field now reduced to soup, the third quarter turned into a slow, bruising series of ball-ups and scraps. Mud and Melton denied the Falcons any opening to take flight as both teams contested the field centimetre by centimetre. In response, Mt Alexander returned to their bread-and-butter play: suppressing, crumbing, and leaning into a relentless defensive structure that held off the Bloods and preserved their 32–14 lead.

But finals spots aren’t gifted—they’re earned and Melton scored two early in the final quarter as Mt Alexander struggled to find their footing.

That is until the indomitable Soph Foster steadied the Falcons with first one goal, then another, and Mt Alexander is on its way to a first-ever quarter final!

Soph Foster was awarded a hand stitched Mangrook as Pride Match player award, and The Mt Alexander Falcons will travel to Riddells Creek tomorrow, Saturday August 2 to take on the Bombers at 5pm at Riddells Creek Recreation Reserve. Go Falcons!