By David Leydon

A look through the Roys history book takes us back to July of 2016, when the mighty Roy Girls journeyed over to the iconic Victoria Park in Collingwood for their Round 11 match against Melbourne University.

The game was played on a Friday night under lights at the famous ground. The first quarter was a dour affair, with the Roys gaining a 12 point quarter time lead. All hell broke loose in the second quarter when the Roy Girls started running riot around goals to go into half time with a commanding 39 point lead.

It got even worse for the Muggars in the third quarter when the Roy Girls kicked a further five goals to none to hold an unassailable three-quarter time lead of 72 points.

Often in these situations, a team can rest on their laurels and take their foot off the accelerator. Not this mighty team on this day though.

A further four goals to none in the last quarter saw the final winning margin blow out to a staggering 99 points!

This was a very exciting period in the early development of our team. It was only their second season together and, after a couple of early season losses in 2016, they had already beaten the Muggars by 104 points in May to begin an exciting winning streak. By this return game in July, they were on an unstoppable march towards their famous first finals appearances later in the season.

There were a number of stars in this game but the great Liz Olney turned it on in front of goals to finish with seven for the match.

Liz has gone on to become the Club's all-time leading goal kicker in a stellar career for the Fitzroy-ACU Women's team. Ash Riddell was also very prominent with six goals. But there were good players all over the ground including the magnificent Roy Girls defensive unit who kept the Muggars scoreless after the first quarter.

The Roys team in 2016 featured a number of players who are still running around in 2021 and proudly representing our club including Lauren Atkinson, Sarah Lynas, Alexa Madden, Gemma Minuz, Luci Murphy, Tash Ross-Harris and Mia Sutherland.

Match details:
FITZROY-ACU 3.1.19 7.4.46 12.7.79 16.10.106
MELB. UNI 1.1.7 1.1.7 1.1.7 1.1.7

Fitzroy Goals:
E. Olney 7, A. Riddell 6, A. Monacella, A. Batterton, M. Arthur

Best players:
A.Riddell, C.Atkinson, M.Arthur , A.Monacella, A.Madden, G.Minuz, E.Olney