ZOE ASKEW
NETBALL
NORTH GIPPSLAND
By ZOE ASKEW
GIMME some of that sweet, sweet victory!
Rosedale Football Netball Club has secured their spot in the AGL Loy Yang North Gippsland League 2022 Second Semi Finals following wins in A and B Grades over Glengarry and Yarram Football Netball Club in the Qualifying Finals.
Thousands of spectators flooded Sale City’s gates on Saturday for the first round of the finals and again at Churchill on Sunday.
The NGFNL reported the highest attendance in league history for Week 1 of the finals.
In the first NGFNL finals since 2019, Rosedale’s A Garde netball team successfully progressed after a 54 to 38 win over Glengarry.
As the sun shone directly on the netball courts at Stephenson Park, and the large crowd which had congregated roared, the ladies from Glengarry and Rosedale took the court, ready for battle.
Both teams were determined to get one step closer to the North Gippsland 2022 premiership title.
Energy percolated on and off the court, and with the whistles blow, the battle began.
The game’s first half was a tight battle with Rosedale and Glengarry seemingly shooting goal-for-goal, but as the match timer ticked on, the Blues tore away from the Magpies, putting themselves in a comfortable lead.
Both teams started the game with firey bellies, but as the match drew closer to an end and Rosedale furthered their lead, Glengarry’s flame waned, and it seemed Megan Garlic and Tiffany Boatman were the only two Magpies putting in a fight.
Rosedale’s Meg Gordyn, Carley Johnstone and Demi Plunkett were stand-out players.
After 60 minutes, the ladies from Rosedale had done it; victory was theirs.
Rosedale will play Woodside this Saturday, and will take a home-court advantage. On Sunday, Glengarry will play Sale City..
Rosedale’s B Grade was also successful at Sale City on Saturday, progressing to the Semi-Finals and scraping a win over Yarram in the Qualifiers.
The B Grade netball competition kept spectators on the edge of their seats from minute one through 60, with a seesawing score never more than a couple of points apart.
A mammoth effort from both teams, but unfortunately for Yarram, the Blues pipped them at the post, and Rosedale walked away with a 45 to 48 victory.
Rosedale will play Sale City this Saturday in the Semi-Final while Yarram will take on Woodside on Sunday.
GIPPSLAND LEAGUE
By ZOE ASKEW
Well hello finals!
Finals are here for the Gippsland League, with teams playing their 18th and final round of the 2022 Gippsland League season on the weekend.
Warragul squashed Bairnsdale’s hopes of adding a win to the board, in a match that went down to the wire.
Bairnsdale may have thought they could smell the sweet scent of victory as the Redlegs held the lead in the first half of the match, but Warragul wasn’t having that, coming in hard and fast in the final two quarters, walking away with a 36 to 34 win.
Sally Deller scored 23 for Bairnsdale on Saturday, while Ella Rees added 24 to Warragul’s score.
Leongatha beat Drouin 57 to 45.
Jess Edgar scored 29 for the Parrots, Hannah Flanders added 26 and Kate Sperling 2.
Drouin’s Stacie Gardiner totalled an impressive 38 goals and Ruby Pratt added seven.
Lauren Redpath was best on for Leongatha, with players Taylah Brown and Hannah Flanders also putting forward a good game.
Best on for Drouin was Ella Henderson, followed by notable performances from Kym Diston and April Bethune.
Moe copped a thrashing from Wonthaggi Power, going down 64:37.
Putting away 45 goals against Moe, Wonthaggi’s Courtney Brann was named the final round highest goal scorer.
Courtney Young added 19 to Wonthaggi Power’s score.
Jess McRae was best on field for Wonthaggi, with great play also from Ellie Bates and Young.
Moe’s best on was Laini Galea.
Is that a wound I see in Sale’s torso? Oh yes, that is the hole from where Morwell gutted the Magpies in a 68 to 22 beating.
Morwell’s Chloe Radford was best-on-court, with noteworthy performances from Claire Allison and Shannon Freeman.
Isla McCarthy was best on for Sale, with Sienna Wynd and Rachel Ronaldson named top performing players.
Unlike Morwell’s walloping of Sale, the game between Traralgon and Maffra was much more cutthroat.
After a 60-minute battle, Maffra walked away victorious, beating Traralgon 48 to 43.
MID GIPPSLAND
By ZOE ASKEW
DON’T you just love Elimination Finals? We do.
The emotion, the passion, the fight, the drive.
In Elimination Finals, that is when you see teams wear their hearts on their sleeves, putting the tank into overdrive to keep ahold of that premiership hope.
In the A Grade competition on Saturday in Mid Gippsland, Yinnar played Newborough at Mirboo North.
The Magpies’ 59 to 34 win over the Bulldogs made for another clean sweep final for Yinnar with wins in B Grade, C Grade and the Under 18s.
In the only other game of the Elimination finals on Sunday, Mowell East took on Fish Creek.
Fish Creek was strong, but Morwell was stronger seeing the Hawks fly away with a 59 to 40 win.
Best on court for Morwell East was Danni Dunn.
The result means Newborough and Fish Creek are out, leaving Toora, Mirboo North, Yinnar and Morwell East standing.
Toora will play Mirboo North on Saturday in the semi finals, and Yinnar will take on Morwell East on Sunday.
The Tigers might have their fingers crossed Yinnar topples the Hawks, as they have had their measure this season.
All four teams have jostled for positions in the top-two at various stages during the home-and-away season, adding a great deal on intrigue to this weekend’s round of matches.
