NETBALL

By ZAIDA GLIBANOVIC

 

Gippsland League

IN Round 4 of the Gippsland League, Traralgon celebrated Cassidy Smith’s 100th senior game with a big win over Warragul in the night match.

The Gull’s were without former Suncorp Super Netballer Emma Ryde, gun defender Ella Rees and midcourter Sienna Green.

It was a goal-for-goal affair to start the match, but the Maroons found themselves with a handy eight-goal lead by the major break, capitalising on Warragul’s weakness.

Though the Gull’s fought back in the third term, the Maroons surged to outscore them 13-4 in the last.

Traralgon’s midcourter Montanna Styles, shooter Sophie Lecchino and centre Ashlyn Pavey were instrumental for their sides home court victory.

Morwell has suffered a slight fall from grace from their premiership contention, going down to Drouin 52-45 at home.

The match was neck-and-neck as Morwell withstood the onslaught of Drouin’s attack in the first three quarters, staying within three goals by three quarter time.

The Tigers couldn’t keep chasing tail all game, and eventually ran second to an experienced Hawks side led by influential players like Kym Diston, Ella Henderson and Charlize Traumanis.

Despite the loss, household Morwell names like Rachel Tatterson and Courtney Garth continued to impress, while newcomer in the midcourt Hayley Stringer also earnt her position in the best.

Reigning premier, Moe absolutely dominated Leongatha, winning 78-46 at Parrot Park.

It seems as no team can match the Lions’ on-court ferocity. Moe quickly gained control of the game, with shooter Ramayer Gourley strong under the post. Midcourter Macy Gardiner, Georgia Moody in goal attack and pocketknife Emma Sculley were also too strong for the Parrots.

Interestingly, Sculley has tried her hand at the offensive end, a former premiership winning goal keeper now also shoots for the Lions, having had 11 scores of her own for the team last Saturday.

Leongatha’s shooter Mikaeli Hilliar made every opportunity count, shooting 30 of their total, while Nicola Marriott and Amber Walker were also named in the best.

It was a tough day at the office for Sale and Maffra.

The Magpies lacked the power to get through Wonthaggi, going down 54-23.

Wonthaggi surged the home team, going 10 goals up in the first quarter. Sale didn’t have any answers to combat the power of the McRae sisters, Hannah and Alanna.

Sale’s Kate Van der Voort shot brilliantly when given the opportunity, and Lola Wilson’s midcourt defence was notable alongside the centre work of Lara Van der Voort.

Maffra also saw no luck over the weekend, as they suffered a 53-26 loss to Bairnsdale on the road.

The Redlegs are among this season’s highest flyers and showed the Eagles no mercy. It was a slow start for Maffra, quickly finding themselves down by eight goals by the first break. Bairnsdale was in no mood to take the pedal off the accelerator, and continued to pile on goal after goal inundating the young Maffra side.

Despite the loss, Matilda Pendergast, Maddy Dalton and Zali Wheatley were best on for the Eagles.

Gippsland Stars’ Alison Dwyer, alongside Sally Deller and Tayla Falconer were influential in the win for Bairnsdale.

 

Mid Gippsland

SHOCKING the competition was Fish Creek when they travelled to Yinnar to hand the reigning premiership Magpies their first loss of the season in Round 3.

Going down 37-33, Yinnar started slowly, only managing seven goals to Fish Creek’s 12.

Rumours of the Fish Creek threat have lingered in the air, as coach Jade McGlead recruited hard in the offseason, with former Leongatha player Jess Edgar and former Toora Magpie Grace McLean coming to the Creek.

Magpies coach, Skye McDonald won’t sit on the loss for too long, eager to get back on track to go back-to-back. No doubt the Magpies will come better prepared for Fish Creek when finals come around.

Morwell East has found the winning formula, defeating Toora 49-44 last Saturday, while Boolarra had a good 52-45 win over Tarwin Sharks.

Foster would have celebrated hard after securing their first win of the season over Thorpdale, 46-29, while Stony Creek made it extremely difficult for Mirboo North. With the game going down to the wire, the Tigers narrowly escaped with a 46-43 goal win. Newborough and MDU had the bye in A Grade.

 

North Gippsland

IN North Gippsland action, reigning premier Woodside finally got their first win of the season when they stormed through Yallourn Yallourn North 53-26 at George Bates Reserve.

Sale City also had a big win against an undermanned Rosedale side who could only manage 34 goals to the Bulldogs’ 60.

Sale City was sitting comfortable playing at home, taking advantage of the Blues in the second quarter, outscoring them to lead 29-17.

The Bulldogs were ferocious in attack and applied a strong defensive pressure, making it hard for the Blues to fight back and ultimately secured them the win.

Heyfield got their revenge over Churchill, coming from behind to beat the Cougars 33-31 at home.

Churchill was in control of the game early on, finding themselves with a healthy seven-goal lead in the first quarter.

The Kangaroos refused to roll over, and came back from a nine-goal deficit in the last quarter to secure a win that meant so much, with the Cougars having gotten the better of them on three separate occasions last year.

Gormandale would have celebrated hard on Saturday night after they defeated Yarram 62-28 at home.

Glengarry handed Traralgon Tyers United their first loss of the season in a very hard-fought match. The scores seesawed but the Magpies managed to get the job done on the road.

Cowwarr had the bye.