Two years ago, Kiama Quarriers striker Alyce Quod was ruled out of her team’s grand final after injuring her back in the semi-final - an injury that required surgery.

A year later, she returned to the field, only to tear the plantar fascia in her right foot and spend nine weeks on the sideline. Just two weeks after making her comeback, she broke her arm and was out for another six weeks. 

Then, in the semi-final, she suffered a Grade 4 AC joint injury in her shoulder - and missed the grand final again.

This year, things finally went her way. Quod made it through the entire season injury-free, played in an undefeated Division One team, won a long-awaited grand final, scored 25 goals, and was awarded the Golden Boot for the entire Community League.

“It’s been a friggin’ journey,” she said.

The 35-year-old received the award at the Football South Coast presentation night. Despite playing for more than 25 years, this is the first time she’s claimed the league’s top scorer title.

“I think I've played enough to not really feel much when it comes to winning that kind of award. Obviously, it's a very individual award - but my job is a striker. I’ve been playing striker for 25-plus years, so that’s my job: to put balls in the back of the net,” she said.

“And if that means at the end of the season they tally up to win an individual award, then that’s fantastic.”

Although recognised for her goal-scoring achievements, Quod made it clear she couldn’t have done it without the team behind her.

“No one can win the Golden Boot without the tireless effort of everybody in the team. The ball has to come from the back to the front - and it’s just my simplistic job of putting it in the net.”

When asked about her favourite goal of the season, Quod didn’t hesitate - she had three, and all came in the preliminary final against Moss Vale, the game that secured her team’s place in the grand final.

“We were actually down - I’d scored first within the first few minutes, then they came back and scored two. So we were losing and just getting absolutely smashed,” she said.

“Then I got this awesome corner. I just jumped up, put my head on it, and it went into the top left corner - we levelled the scores with about eight minutes to go.”

“And then we had this random free kick, well outside the box, out on the right-hand side. I’m just sitting there thinking, what am I going to do with this? She kicked it up, floated it in - I was about 11 metres out - and I just jumped up, connected with my head, and in slow motion, the ball soared over the keeper’s fingertips and went in with just moments to go.”

Reflecting on the season, Quod admitted that things didn’t always look promising - and she almost didn’t play at all.

“It was a really interesting start to the season. We started off with about seven confirmed players. We didn’t think we were going to have enough, and I was on the verge of doing something else,” she said.

“Then, out of the woodworks, floated in all these different women from all walks of life - mostly young. I’m the third oldest in the team. But we started training hard, twice a week, with lots of fitness. And the girls were amazing.”

Despite the rough start and unfamiliarity among players, things started to click - and Quod believes that team chemistry played a huge part in her goal-scoring success.

“Even though we were really talented across the board, it was rusty at the start. Chemistry needed to be built - and I think it didn’t take us long,” she said.

“I just needed to figure out how my midfielders and wingers were going to service me the ball. Probably about a month in - four games under our belt - and we started to mesh together. That was really pinnacle.”

After years of setbacks, Alyce Quod’s season was a testament to resilience, teamwork, and the joy of finally getting the reward she never stopped chasing.