When football and netball returned McCorquindale Park last Saturday, it was the perfect opening to Penola’s Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara season. Both A Grade teams got the job done against Bordertown, while the other grades also enjoyed plenty of success.
The Eagles’ new-look A Grade netball team started on the front foot with a huge 70-28 win with April Possingham and Georgia Winter the top performers with 43 and 27 goals respectively.
Penola Netball Club president Karly Honner said it was nice seeing action back at the Eagles’ nest and no less than 10 debutants prove themselves across the senior grades. “Everyone was very excited and there were plenty of spectators, so it was good to see everyone gathered there again,” she said.
“The A Grade dominated from the very start and I think Bordertown had a very young and undermanned team. “In the last quarter Penola probably was not quite as strong, but we were very happy with how the game went. “All senior sides won which is great considering we had 10 debutants and only one player from the A Reserves grand final team is left which is coach Ashley Earl.”
Penola will travel to Keith this weekend which Honner believes will be a tough test. “Keith are always strong and are a good measure of where you are at,” she said. “They played Kybybolite on the weekend and were quite convincing. “Keith has the only indoor court in the league, so it is always faster netball played there.”
The first clash of the KNTFL A Grade season proved to be a classic with the Eagles edging ahead by just four points. Scoring proved challenging during the first term in cool conditions, but two straight kicks gave the young Penola team an early lead.
However, the Roosters came out firing after quarter time and gained most of the possession. As a result the visitors wrestled the lead away from the home team, but not without confusion. The game was paused briefly as to whether or not Bordertown’s second major should be allowed and eventually the umpire waved both flags to signal a goal.
To the delight of the home crowd, the Roosters’ lead did not last long after Bradley Merrett lifted the Eagles in the second term. In a three-phase effort which started at half back, Merrett ran the ball out of trouble and handballed to Bailey Walker.
But Walker could not take the Sherrin cleanly which allowed Merrett to swoop in and regain possession. He kicked inside 50 and his continual running was rewarded with a free kick in front of goal.
Merrett went back and converted the set shot to disrupt Bordertown’s momentum. All results were possible with the scores level at half time and neither side could break free during the closing stages.
Penola took control in the “premiership quarter” and opened a nine point advantage. However, the Roosters hit back in the last and closed in on spoiling the Eagles’ party, but the hosts held on. Penola can pay a lot of credit to Scott Merrett, who created relentless pressure in the middle, while also scoring two critical goals to earn top votes.
There were more tight battles around the grounds headlined with Lucindale coming from behind to knock off Padthaway. On home turf, Lucindale trailed by 16 points entering the last quarter, but it sprinted home to take home the points in a last-gasp effort.
Eight of the Tigers’ 11 goals were kicked off the boot of Tobin Cox. Kingston and Mundulla also secured a hard-fought wins over Border Districts and Naracoorte respectively, while Keith showed strong form against Kybybolite.
