The Goon show… start and finish

Goal attack Lauren Brown was instrumental in the Goons win in C Grade. 127676 Pictures: DONNA OATES

By BRIDGET SCOTT

ELLINBANK AND DISTRICT NETBALL ASSOCIATION –
WEST DIVISION GRAND FINAL REVIEWS

A YEAR of hard work certainly paid off for one side on Saturday when the Nar Nar Goon’s A-Grade side took home the 2014 Premiership Cup.
The gleaming silver cup sat on the side lines awaiting its new owner, as Lang Lang and Nar Nar Goon fought out one hotly contested game on Saturday. The crowd could tell from the start that it was in for a good match, with the Tigers and Goon both determined to take home the last cup of the day.
Umpire’s best-on-court Meg Evans was a standout in attack from the start and contributed well to the high-scoring game. The shooters tenacity proved too hard for the Tigers’ defenders to overcome and the Gooner held her own all game.
Nar Nar Goon managed to maintain its lead the entire game, despite consistent efforts from Lang Lang to come back at them. The Goon went into the last quarter with a seven-goals lead; however a win wasn’t going to come easy as three quick goals from their opposition commenced the last term of the season. As the pressure mounted, both sides experienced some unforced errors, however the lead Nar Nar Goon had cemented was too much for the Lang Lang to rein back.
As the final whistle blew, the Nar Nar Goon Netball Club celebrated its second premiership of the day and coach Christie Edwards’ first A-Grade flag in 14 years.
Edwards couldn’t wipe the smile off her face, proud of her side’s efforts. But true to her nature the coach was humble and said the win was simply due to hard work and consistency.
“We were hoping to get off to a good start so we weren’t playing catch up like the past two times we played them,” she said.
“It was basically a shoot-out right from the beginning, with both goaling ends scoring high and hard to stop.”
“The second quarter, although we made some simple errors, got us a lead on which we were able to hold onto until the final whistle.”
She said a “crucial” intercept from mid-court player Maggie Riley was instrumental in the win, and up-and-coming young gun Ashley Coombes in wing defence made life hard for her own opponent.
“It was a very steady, consistent and hard fought win,” she said.“Nothing spectacular but just a superb team effort – I could not be any prouder of all the team members on and off the court.”
The other senior matches were just as competitive, with the standard set from the start.
The C-Grade battle was a taste of what was to come for the A-Grade match, with the same two sides playing out a similar result. Nar Nar Goon took the game out by 14 goals with Nar Nar Goon the more determined team on the day.
It was no easy win for the Goon, with Lang Lang hot on the tails of their opposition – the scoreboard favouring neither the first half.
Nar Nar Goon turned it up after half time and stretched the lead out to seven by three-quarter time. Some inspiring intercepts from Leesa Bartlett motivated her side furthermore, as well as accurate shooting and good moving in the ring by Lauren Brown.
The Goon ran away with it in the end and didn’t give Lang Lang a look in, in the last quarter.
Kooweerup and Cora Lynn stepped on to the court for B-Grade and it was a close match for most of the game.
The Cobras held a small, one goal lead at three-quarter time after a tight match, but for Kooweerup, there wasn’t enough time to fight back and despite some accurate shooting from the Demons, Cora Lynn won the cup by three goals.
The story was no different in the junior games for the day, with each of these also highly competitve games.
It looked as though D Grade would enter time on, with both Bunyip and Cora Lynn hard at the ball all game. No side was prepared to surrender, going goal-for-goal in the dying moments of the match. Finally Bunyip took the game by one goal, leaving a shattered Cora Lynn in its wake.
An experienced side from Kooweerup took away the Under-5’s flag after it got over Garfield.
With nerves evident from both sides, there was only one goal in it at quarter time following numerous turnovers in the first quarter. The consistency of Kooweerup was hard to topple and the side maintained its undefeated status the whole game winning by six goals.
The Under-13 match-up wasn’t quite as close however, but none-the-less it was an exciting day for more than 14 girls who stepped on the court, some in their first grand-final game.
Cora Lynn Netball Club has a bright future ahead, with a few rising stars evident as it got over Bunyip by 23 goals. The Cobras led all game to finish off a strong season.
A competitive day fuelled by adrenaline and determination, contributing to six high-standard games of netball.
Smiles and tears brought an end to the first ever split season for the Ellinbank League.
Six sides walked away with the ultimate accolade. No doubt after a well-earned break these sides will return to attempt back-to-backs in 2015.