HAYLEE RHOOK
LCFNL – A Reserve
OUR A Reserve girls finished their season strongly with an emphatic 31-goal win over at East Gambier Saturday.
The blustery winds that hampered our junior games died down a bit by 1pm and our ladies enjoyed sunshine for the first half of the match.
The first quarter saw our midcourters Bridie Ayton, Madeleine Patton and Tori Broomby apply extreme pressure through the centre third, causing many East turnovers which allowed the Cats to tug away the score line by five goals at the first break.
In the second our defenders really got on top of Easts goaling combination, Jess Condon and Ebany Jarrad dominating our defensive third and sending the ball down into attack giving our attackers every opportunity to convert, which once again Shelby Nolte at GS well and truly did.
By half-time, Shelby had shot 30 of our 32 goals and the Cats had blown the lead right out to 18 goals.
The rain tumbled down as we took to the court after the half time break and Makayla Hutchins asserted her authority on the match, completely cutting East’s WA out of the game and attacking strongly when turnovers were created.
Ivy Lane had her best quarter of the match, moving strongly at GA and converting truly at every opportunity.
Madeline Patton had moved into her more familiar centre position and gave us unbelievable drive through the main corridor.
The Cats ladies had further snuck the margin out to 23 goals at the final break.
The team came off happy with their efforts, lots of smiles all round, but their never-satisfied coach demanded a strong finish and tasked the girl to keep pushing hard to meet the 65-goal target for the match.
The mature leadership on the court of Bridie Ayton and Tori Broomby made this task a reality, continuing to lift the side whenever needed with voice and actions.
With seconds to go we were heading down into our goal circle to shoot the 65th goal when the final whistle blew, falling one short, but an amazing performance by the girls showed what they were absolutely capable of if we had made it to finals.
Final score, East 33 Cats 64.
Unfortunately, due to two draws and a one goal loss during the season, we just slipped out of fourth position, which I know the rest of the league will be happy about, because there was no doubting we were the danger team of the competition if we did scrape into finals, having beaten and drawn with both the third and fourth-placed teams.
Thanks go to the junior girls who have helped us out when needed during the season – Yylana, Marlee, Phoebe and Adele – and we hope to see them playing more senior netball next season.
Special thanks also to our team manager, Claire Foster, who was on the sidelines with me all season due to an ankle injury, but came to most trainings and was still a very big part of our A Res’ team in 2025.
CATS NETBALL VOUCHERS
A Grade: Tessa Marra (Bonnie & Fred, Village Body and Beauty), Chloe Finnigan (GPG Fencing), Caeleigh Humphries (Village Body and Beauty, Ironman 4×4)
A Reserve: Tori Broomby (Glenelg Inn), Ivy Lane (Sunnyside & Co), Makayla Hutchins (Ironman 4×4), Claire Foster – best PC/support person (Village Body and Beauty)
B Grade: Janine Parsons, Sharna Fidler (Menzies Hotel), Hinemoa Maitland (Ironman 4×4), Emma Grigg (The Back Paddock), Phoebe Rhook (Village Body and Beauty)
C Grade: Molly Dennis, Kim Hutchins, Jorjia Farrugia (Ville Body and Beauty), Tania Mutch (Ironman 4×4), Nicola Smith (Menzies Hotel), Matilda Thompson (Coaches $10), Emma Bromham, Caitlyn Gorman (Herberts Bakery)
17 & Under: Brydie Carlin, Amy Crauford (GPG Fencing), Phoebe Rhook (Casterton Post Office), Amelia Luers (Element Café), Caitlyn Gorman (Ironman 4×4)
15 & Under A: Adele Murphy (Element Café), Chloe Kurzman (Ironman 4×4), Brooklyn Mutch (Herberts Bakery), Stacey Edwards, Isabella Luers (Menzies Hotel), Renee Gorman (Casterton Central) 13 & Under A: Kate Henry (Herberts Bakery), Ruby James, Cleo Longhurst (Menzies Hotel), Mia Carter (Ironman 4×4), Imogen Watson, Bailey Green (Element Café), Skye Kurzman (Coaches $10) 11 & Under: Harper Searle, Averie Parsons (Ironman 4×4), Madeline Fidler (Menzies Hotel), Lori Campbell (Casterton Central), Rose Schembri (GPG Fencing), Piper Hutchins (Element Café), Abbey Fidler, Maggie Simson (Quality Shearing)
