Tom Hayes, Blake Metcalf-Holt and David Braithwaite
THE North Gippsland netball grand final teams have been decided after an incredible preliminary final at the weekend.
After facing each other in the first week of finals, Churchill would once again meet Heyfield, this time in a preliminary final.
Despite going the long way around after losing the qualifying final by a goal, Heyfield had the home court advantage. Wanting to get revenge, the Kangaroos certainly looked the goods coming into the battle, knowing they had beaten the Cougars previously this season.
Heyfield took a slight advantage in the early stages of the match, despite both sides going toe-to-toe in the opening two quarters.
Churchill was first on the board, but it didn’t take long for Heyfield to get the scoreboard back in its favour. After the first two terms, the Kangaroos entered each break with a lead of just a couple of goals.
It was do-or-die for Churchill, who continued to trail in the third term, but things began to get out of hand.
Despite coming into the game as the lower seed, the home side put the pedal to the metal, piling on multiple goals, deflating the Cougars in a matter of minutes.
Their grip on the game was so strong that they had extended out to 12 goals at one stage, before the Cougars pegged them back a few to go into the final quarter 10 goals off the pace.
There was simply no answer. Churchill tried its best to stake a comeback, but whatever it did was matched by the Kangaroos. So much so, that a run of play saw four consecutive turnovers, two from each side.
Churchill came late, but it was too late, going down by nine goals, seeing Heyfield through to the grand final.
The Kangaroos will face Sale City, who has gone through 2024 undefeated, and will be looking to finish it off with one more win at Gaskin Park, Churchill, this Saturday.
Sale City will be represented on grand final day in all six grades of netball.
In B grade, the Bulldogs will take on Woodside, which defeated Yallourn-Yallourn North 52-50 at the weekend.
The Bulldogs’ C grade side defeated Traralgon-Tyers United in the preliminary final, will play undefeated Woodside for the premiership.
D grade minor premier City will this weekend play TTU, which defeated Woodside in the prelim.
Sale City will play Rosedale in the under 17s grand final. City’s only blemish this season came when they drew against the Blues at Rosedale in round 14.
Grand final action will begin with the under 15s, with the Bulldogs taking on the undefeated TTU. The Bulldogs edged out Heyfield in the preliminary final, 41-29.
THE second week of Gippsland League netball finals action proved to be an eyebrow-raiser, to say the least.
While some were fighting for their lives with the potential of elimination right on their backsides, others went in with a grand final berth on the horizon.
Peaking at the ultimate time, Warragul upset A grade powerhouse Moe to advance to the grand final after defeating the reigning premier 63-51 at Leongatha on Saturday.
The Gulls started in style, taking it to the minor premier and leading early 9-3. Their lead went as large as 16-6 with no one able to hinder the impact of league-leading goal scorer Emma Ryde.
Moe dragged it back slightly to end the first quarter, outscoring Warragul 4-2 in the final two minutes, but still looked at an eight-goal deficit.
The Lions had to answer the bell, but the Gulls weren’t going to let them back in it that easy, managing the opening five of the first seven goals of the second term to extend their lead back over 10 goals.
Again, Moe put together a run to match Warragul’s intensity around the ball and pressure its attacks, out-scoring the Gulls to conclude the first half but still down nine goals.
The Lions returned to the court with an edge and hungry to get themselves back into the match. Opening the second half 13-5 was going to do wonders to bring that notion into reality, and the match was set ablaze with there suddenly only being a goal in it.
Warragul dug deep to push back against the rallying Moe unit and scored the next three goals to cushion their lead back to four goals, but were then immediately combatted by the Lions to bring it straight back to a one-goal margin.
Four of the final five goals by the Gulls ended the third term with Warragul ahead 44-40.
Both teams went goal-after-goal in the opening minutes of the final term before Moe continued its mini runs of the second half and moved the game back to two goals with eight minutes remaining. However, not about to let its best chance of positioning itself best for the big one, especially against such an exceptional side, Warragul put its foot on the throat and went on a 14-4 run to conclude.
The Lions suffered their first loss in 525 days, having gone all of season 2024 undefeated (bar a draw to Bairnsdale in round 14) and after running the table with the league and winning the premiership in 2023 after losing round one to Morwell that year.
Moe is now forced to take the longer road in the hopes of securing back-to-back flags, with a preliminary final date set with Drouin this Saturday.
The Hawks defeated Bairnsdale in the first semi-final on Sunday 52-43, blowing the Redlegs away after a one-goal game at three quarter time at Moe. That leaves the top three on the ladder at the end of the home-and-away season still alive with two weeks remaining.
Lower grades:
B grade: second semi-final: Moe 47-38 Drouin; first semi-final: Traralgon 43-36 Leongatha.
C grade: second semi-final: Drouin 39-38 Morwell; first semi-final: Maffra 37-27 Wonthaggi.
Under 17s: second semi-final: Traralgon 34-33 Leongatha; first semi-final: Bairnsdale 41-36 Sale.
Under 15s: second semi-final: Bairnsdale 38-34 Sale; first semi-final: Traralgon 44-28 Moe.
Under 13s: second semi-final: Leongatha 32-19 Maffra; first semi-final: Moe 28-25 Traralgon.
