NETBALL
FRIDAY night at Latrobe Leisure Churchill was the second last round in the open division, and the last game for the under 17s, in the Victorian Eastern Regional Netball League.
In the early seniors game winless Sale took on an experienced and undefeated Gippsland league team.
Gippsland was missing its gun goal attack, Daisy Hill, but Taylin Gourley and Hill’s understudy, Claire Allison, stood up to the challenge and managed to fill the hole more than well.
They came out firing in the first quarter, scoring a massive 28 goals to Sale’s 10 and extended its lead at every break.
With finals looming large, Gippsland coach Kate French instructed her players to release the ball quicker into Gourley.
French also said her team was giving Sale too much space, which they were taking advantage of.
Unfortunately for Sale, Gippsland was too strong, finishing on 82 goals and having to add numbers to the scoresheet as they had run out of space.
Sale finished with 32 goals, which is a feat against such a strong Gippsland team.
In the other open division fixture, North Gippsland held off Mid Gippsland, 43-38.
Mid Gippsland finally had a full list and it showed on the night, although slow start to the season meant it probably won’t make the grand final because there is no top four in the open division.
Both teams had a sluggish start to the game with many unforced errors that kept the scoring relatively low.
At the first break, North Gippsland led by four goals but struggled to extend and capitalise on chances.
Mid kept nipping at North Gippsland’s heels throughout the game but lost its intensity in the final moments, going down by five goals.
Under 17s
Gippsland 64 d Mid Gippsland 43
East Gippsland 50 d North Gippsland 50
