NETBALL
By BLAKE METCALF-HOLT
Gippsland League
FOUR games remain in Gippsland League netball before finals.
Some surprising results from Round 14 has the ladder at least appearing as close as it has since the beginning of the season.
Bairnsdale gave Moe their first incompletion in well over a year, drawing on the Redlegs home court 44-all.
Bairnsdale led at halftime by two goals, 26 to 24, before the Lions found some buried energy and dug deep to finish the third quarter up by two goals themselves.
The Redlegs proved they are a serious contender for finals in the last quarter, keeping themselves well in it to even the score up as the final siren wailed.
Anna Mooney and Sally Deller combined for all the Redlegs score (24 and 20 goals respectively) while Moe’s Emma Sculley was pushed up and piled a match-high 36 goals to keep her team within striking distance.
The Redlegs moved to fifth position on the ladder after the game, two points ahead of Wonthaggi due to their loss to Traralgon.
Bairnsdale can still climb further before season’s end.
Despite the end result, Moe will take away some points. The Lions were depleted, taking the court without elite goal shooters in Ramayer Gourley and Georgia Moody.
Traralgon completed the distant trip away from home, defeating Wonthaggi by a five-goal margin.
The Power had the lead in the early portions of the contest, 10-8 after the first quarter, but the Maroons came out with a force to take the lead, going into the halftime break by the same margin after a four-goal swing.
Traralgon didn’t slow down, coming out of the stoppage of play, jumping out to an eight-goal lead with one quarter to spare which gave them enough room to remain victorious.
Sophie Lecchino added 25 goals for the Maroons, accompanied by Grace Van Tilburg with 18, while Chelsea Bowman had 25 herself for the Power.
Traralgon sit in clear fourth position on the ladder with a win-loss-draw record of 8-5-1, and keep Wonthaggi out of finals qualification for the time being.
Morwell was the only side to get the job done on their home court, beating Maffra to the tune of 34 goals, 63-29.
The Tigers’ damage was done early with a 17-4 first quarter that left the game without any doubt as to who would come out on top.
Morwell had heavy contributions from Tiffany Boatman who dropped 32 goals, Isabella Bettridge with 21 and Claire Marks with 10.
Drouin are creeping on Moe’s tail after beating Sale 45-28.
After an already convincing first half, Drouin then tallied a 10-4 quarter that left the result without question at Sale Oval.
The second-place Hawks now move just one game behind Moe for top spot.
Charlize Traumanis starred with 25 goals, supported by Karina Proctor with 20. Kate Van der Voort shot 24 goals for Sale.
Leongatha upset Warragul at Western Park, 53-43.
The result keeps the race for the final spots in the top five interesting the rest of the way home.
The Gulls held a 16-9 lead at quarter time, but things changed over the next 45 minutes.
The Parrots chipped away at the deficit to conclude the first half down four goals, before outscoring Warragul by 14 in the final two quarters, including a damning 18 goals in the third term.
That gave Leongatha their fifth win for the season, and keeps them two games back of fifth but still 10 points back of Bairnsdale due to their draw against Moe.
Mid Gippsland
LITTLE separation seems to be made in Mid Gippsland netball, as results swung in favour of those expected.
Teams shouldn’t be thinking too far ahead as the tightness within the top six means there is every possibility that someone could slip out given an unfortunate fortnight.
Round 14 began with Morwell East squeezing past Foster at home, 39 to 36.
Even scoring was the deciding factor in the Hawks win, which included Sukie Hodgson, Danni Dunn and Tayla Watson (23, 10 and six goals respectively), which combatted the tough work of Brylee Angwin (24 goals) and Ella Rendell (12).
Morwell East hold onto second position on the ladder over Yinnar thanks to a draw against top-placed Fish Creek earlier in the season, while Foster sank to sixth spot.
The Magpies showdown had Yinnar hold bragging rights over Toora, 37-29.
A gruelling first quarter ended with Yinnar leading 10-5, but home side Toora wouldn’t back down that easy and trailed by only two goals heading into the halftime break.
Thanks to a six-goal run to begin the third term, Yinnar led by seven goals heading into the final quarter.
Skye McDonald continued a stellar season with 24 goals alongside Clair Thorburn (13), while Hannah Weston gave her all with 21 goals for Toora.
The result keeps Yinnar in the hunt for top spot on the ladder.
Toora sit two games back of sixth position at a win-loss record of 5-7.
Fish Creek secured the win over Newborough, 57-44.
The Bulldogs finished the first quarter up by two goals before a disastrous second term had them concede 18 goals.
The visiting Kangaroos kept that same energy going into the second half with a 14-goal quarter that had them lead by nine goals at three quarter time.
Fish Creek’s Jessica Edgar had 33 goals alongside Lara Stefani’s 18. Demi Caldow and Caitlin Demczuk continued a great combination on the year with 24 and 20 goals each for Newborough.
The Kangaroos hold onto top position, while Newborough will need a near perfect record for the rest of the home-and-away season if they hope to play finals.
Mirboo North defeated Boolarra handily, 62-41 as the club celebrated the 10 year anniversary of their 2014 A Grade and B Grade premierships.
The A Grade Grand Final that year had Mirboo North best the Demons in overtime and narrowly win by a goal.
Cut to the present, the Tigers didn’t need that much exertion to defeat Boolarra, creating a sizeable lead early on that was never made up for at Mirboo North Recreation Reserve.
Marley Wallace dropped 52 goals for Mirboo North that far surpassed the efforts of the Demons’ Emily Chapman (24 goals) and Tessa Jewell (17).
The Tigers sit at 8-4 on the year tied for fourth spot with MDU, while Boolarra place themselves in the bottom four of the competition.
MDU easily defeated Thorpdale, 43-23 at Thorpdale to give them a welcoming percentage booster on their way to a hopeful top four finish.
Thorpdale remain winless after 12 games.
Stony Creek and Tarwin had the bye.
North Gippsland
NORTH GIPPSLAND netball was reduced at the weekend due to Glengarry, Cowwarr and Traralgon Tyers United honoured with a week off in Round 14.
Sale City dominated Rosedale, 37 to 24 to remain undefeated for the year.
The victory gave the visiting Bulldogs a one game cushion over Churchill in second-place behind the top dogs.
The Cougars made it through quite comfortably against Heyfield, winning 44-29 at Gaskin Park.
The second verse third matchup was a little more lopsided than expected, and the Kangaroos will now fight to hold firm with Woodside, both on nine wins for the season.
The Wildcats made easy work of Yallourn Yallourn North in a 49-19 win at home.
Woodside only has three games remaining, with a bye coming up in two weeks. They’ll be fighting for a double chance against Heyfield.
Gormandale collected their second win for the year against Yarram, winning 56-29 in Yarram.
The Demons remain winless for the year and look like that could be the case come season’s end.
