A Grade: Glencoe 35 d Tantanoola 45
Tantanoola started with the first centre pass to open up the first score of the Preliminary final in perfect conditions for netball at Robe.
Early in the first quarter scoring went with the centre passes with Emma Gould providing a strong focal point in goals for the Tigers.
Tantanoola’s goalies were under a lot of pressure from Sarah Edwards and Chelsea Owen, but their feeders were patient, protecting the passes in.
In Glencoe’s goal circle Tayla Rowe and Chantelle Cocks were having a great tussle.
Tantanoola’s height in the circle was providing challenges for Edwards and Owen and Rowe was getting her hands to anything loose in the Murphies attack line.
At the first break Tantanoola had a five-goal lead.
Again, the Tigers scored the first goal of the quarter and their defensive pressure all over the court was making the Murphies work hard for every pass.
Glencoe settled, however Tantanoola stayed focused.
Jenna Paproth worked hard at goal attack and her finals experience was evident in her composure.
Kate Varcoe at centre for the Tigers continued to work strongly through the mid court despite the pressure of Donna Jaeschke.
Keryl Ousey’s long-range shot was causing problems for Glencoe with rebounds at a minimum.
The Tigers went into half time with a seven-goal lead.
Glencoe opened up with the first goal of the third quarter through Cocks.
Some of the intensity felt like it had gone out of the game and the goals were going on centre passes with no change to the lead at the five minute mark of the quarter.
Glencoe started to get their hands to any balls that were not on target from Ousey and Gould, however both settled and showed strength under the post to help Tantanoola out to an eight-goal buffer going in to the last.
The Tigers continued to show patience and extended their lead to nine early in the quarter with Ousey and Gould combining well with strong feeding from Varcoe and Jami Walker.
At the other end Paproth and Cocks kept working hard but struggled against the height and reach of Rowe who was fantastic in the last line of defence for the Tigers.
Tantanoola booked their spot in the grand final with a hard-fought win by 10.
A Reserve: Kalangadoo 44 d Port MacDonnell 29
A hot preliminary final at Robe made for an intense first quarter.
Kalangadoo’s mid court came out strongly and made Port MacDonnell pay for some simple mistakes they monopolised on.
Nicola Collins worked consistently to put pressure on in Kalangadoo’s goal circle, but Gina Gogel shot accurately and was a great target for the mid court.
Kalangadoo came away with a three-goal lead at quarter time.
The second was met with similar gusto by Kalangadoo and whilst Cody Manning remained patient, Georgia Duncan and Reanna Weatherall for Kalangadoo applied strong defensive pressure keeping Kirby Carrison scoreless for the quarter.
The third quarter saw some changes for both teams with Carrison switching to goal keeper on Melissa Russell and Port MacDonnell bringing on junior talent Sophie Lewis in centre and Lara Wilson on at goal shooter both proving their dominance with multiple successful plays.
Port Mac kept their pressure on but the patient feeding and driving from both Georgia Gentile and Lucy Williams made it difficult to shift the momentum.
Shanae Neale was able to impact at Wing Defence with fresh legs and came out firing.
Kalangadoo led at the third break by 15.
The fourth quarter saw Kalangadoo prove why they deserve their spot in next week’s grand final keeping the lead and taking the game 44-29.
B Grade: Robe 59 d Glencoe 33
It was always going to be a tough match between Robe and Glencoe.
An injury early in the game to Glencoe’s Hayley Dunsford, forced the Murphies into positional changes, with Alyce Finnis moving to centre and Lauren Kenny entering the game at wing attack.
Robe’s goalies Ella Mackey and Libby Yeo shot strongly in the first half setting up a 13-goal lead going into halftime.
Glencoe made many positional changes trying to limit the Roosters opportunities.
Taylor Martin came into the centre at halftime and had an impact on the game.
Despite inaccuracy in the ring Robe extended their lead in the third by another 13 goals.
Kayla McInnes at goal keeper for the Murphies battled hard all day as did Alyce Finnis at centre.
Glencoe won the last by a goal, but the damage was done in the first three quarters.
B Reserve: Kalangadoo 30 d by Mount Burr 33
Kalangadoo started the game strong with Kalangadoo goal attack Jodi Greenwood being the main scorer for them in the first quarter.
In the second quarter Mount Burr started pulling lots of pressure all over the court and especially in the defence, with Mozzies Goal Shooter Sophie Jankowski finishing of well, but Kalangadoo defenders Brianna Devine and Gemma Box stepped up for their team, making their opposition work hard for every ball.
Both teams made changes at half time, and the changes went Mount Burr’s way outscoring Kalangadoo for third quarter.
Mount Burr goal keeper Dawn Smith with her strong defence restricted Kalangadoo goalies shooting opportunities.
At the end of the third of quarter the game was even, setting up for an exciting last quarter.
Both teams went goal to goal at the start of the fourth and putting lots of pressure all over the court and chasing any loose balls.
Mount Burr goalies finished of stronger and came away with win by three.
17 & Under: Port MacDonnell 46 d by Tantanoola 55
An intense start to the game with Tantanoola getting the first points of the game on the board.
Some nervous errors by the Port MacDonnell girls saw Tantanoola push ahead early, making the Demon defence work overtime.
Accurate shooting by Bella Poulish left little rebounding opportunities but Stevie Collins capitalised on the opportunities she created.
Both sides started to tire in the second half, the warm weather unfamiliar to both.
Lilly Day worked hard in the goal circle for Port MacDonnell however Molly Cushion made her earn every goal.
With a close last quarter, the Tantanoola girls managed to finish in front despite a last-minute run by the Port MacDonnell girls.
15 & Under: Hatherleigh 39 d Port MacDonnell 30
The preliminary final found us down in Robe, where the weather turned one on for the girls, making them work overtime in the heat.
It was a great game by both teams, where the first half had only a few in it up until the last half of the game where Hatherleigh took a 10-goal lead on the strong Port Mac side.
The defensive pressure all over the court from both teams was amazing, and there were lots of hands and intercepts to every ball.
The second half saw Hatherleigh come out firing taking a 10-goal lead, showing maturity and great teamwork.
All in all, both teams put on a fight and showed they were worthy competitors for that grand final spot.
In the end Hatherleigh came away with a nine-goal win, progressing to the grand final against Kalangadoo next weekend.
13 & Under: Glencoe 36 d Hatherleigh 32
Glencoe and Hatherleigh had a hard-fought contest for the whole four quarters.
An even start to the first quarter with both teams getting many turnovers.
Glencoe’s Ella Stewart shot accurately and was a strong focal point in the goal circle and was able to convert first with Glencoe leading by three into the first break.
Hatherleigh’s Alirah Bowman and Glencoe’s Layla Hawke had a strong contest throughout the mid court both feeding well to their respective goalies.
After the half time break, Hatherleigh’s goalies Sienna Clark and Livvi Faulkner came out strong moving well to provide options for each other.
Hatherleigh defenders Luca Hamilton and Tilly Prouse continued to apply pressure in the goal circle resulting in multiple turnovers.
Coming into the last quarter, Glencoe had a two-goal lead with Isabella Brierley and Gracie Cary making some crucial turnovers which Hallie Sealey was able to capitalise on, seeing Glencoe increase their lead and finish the game to win by a narrow four goals.
