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Gippsland Storm Elite Development Netball Club has made it through to three grand finals with two of those played last week.
The senior-two squad played on Tuesday night followed by the 17-1 squad on Wednesday, both being played at the Waverley Netball Centre.
The Storm 13-under squad was ready and raring to play last Thursday, but the Covid lockdown caused their game to be postponed.
Storm’s Open Two Grand Final
Gippsland Storm finished second on the ladder and had a hard-fought semi-final win through to the grand final against Phoenix, who finished 10 points clear with only one loss for the season.
Unfortunately one of our shooters went down with a knee injury with just seconds remaining and was unable to play in the grand final.
Prior to the grand final we were definitely the underdogs, having lost to Phoenix by three points early in the season and 20 points later in the year.
We got off to a rocky start, having our first centre pass broken, but quickly steadied and broke back.
It was a fairly even first quarter, but we went to the break with a three-goal lead. In the second quarter we extended the lead and were up by eight points at half time.
In the third quarter we continued our success and won that quarter by six goals.
The last quarter ended up being even, and the final score was 58–44…a very handy 14-goal win.
All the girls played exceptionally well, showing great intensity and composure under pressure and it was extremely pleasing to see them put into practice, everything that we had been working on in training throughout the season.
The defensive pressure was immense from every single player and our goalers were phenomenal, barely missing a shot.
Storm’s 17-1 Grand Final
On Wednesday, 4 August, Gippsland Storm played the 17-Under Division One Premier League grand final against Eastern United.
After a disruptive season, with a number of injuries and Covid delays, the team came into the grand final after just one game during the season where all 10 athletes were available to play.
The game was close right from the first whistle. Both teams contested strongly and neither was willing to give an inch.
Lucy McKellar in defence (GK) set the tone early by collecting a number of intercepts hunting out of the circle. However, Eastern United took the match 35-33 with a high skill level shown with both teams.
Best on court went to Storm’s Ashlyn Gallasch for a strong game in wing attack.
She brought such calmness to our attacking line with strong drives for the ball and patience crafting her feeds into the circle. The Storm team will regroup and look forward to the spring season to showcase their elite skills as a team.
Storm now wait for the outcome of the 13-under grand final still to be held…it’s a case of wait and see?
Storm tryouts, if everything goes to plan, will be held in October later this year. Keep an eye on the club’s website: www.gippslandstorm.com.au for dates, or on social media.
