ELLINBANK and District Netball Association preliminary finals were played at NilmaDarnum on Saturday.
A GRADE
The first quarter of the Poowong versus Warragul Industrials match was fastmoving.
Neither team was able to make a clear break by quartertime, with Poowong one goal in front going into the break.
Prue Blackwood was prominent in goals for Poowong.
Poowong started the second quarter well with some great defensive pressure and nice play in the goal circle.
The players kept this pressure up to go into the halftime break with a handy ninegoal lead, 33 to 24.
The Dusties came into the third quarter with a changed defensive end to try and combat Poowong’s dominance in the goal circle.
After an even start, Poowong once again gained control and increased its lead to 24 goals by threequarter time.
Dusties once again made positional changes to see if they could get back into the game. Poowong, however, proved to be too strong all over the court and continued to build on its lead.
Score: Poowong 76 d Dusties 37. Best: Janice McKay, Poowong.
B GRADE
Neerim Neerim South got off to a good start, with tight defence putting pressure on the Buln Buln goalers, resulted in many turnovers.
Good passing between the Neerim goalers put the quartertime score at 177.
Pressure from both sides caused errors at both ends, and Buln Buln’s goalers began to capitalise on all opportunities, reducing the margin to two.
Buln Buln levelled the score during the third quarter with plenty of pressure applied by both teams, and goal keeper Cheryl Leigh Mathews backed herself and took some great intercepts.
With Neerim up by two, the final quarter was made difficult for both teams to goal with pressure from both sides making passages of play messy.
Buln Buln came back in the last few minutes of play to outscore Neerim, for the quarter but it wasn’t enough with Neerim hanging on by a goal.
Score: Neerim Neerim South 48 d Buln Buln 47. Best: Joey Whitehead, Buln Buln.
C GRADE
The first quarter started off slowly with both Kooweerup and Longwarry taking a long time to settle into their games.
After an even term Kooweerup went into the first break with a onegoal lead.
The second quarter was a tight affair with good defensive pressure by both teams keeping the score low.
The lead changed a few times, and Longwarry held a 1210 lead going into halftime.
Again, the third quarter started off evenly, but Longwarry stepped up to the challenge and gained a sevengoal lead at threequarter time.
Longwarry continued with more consistent netball and accurate shooting win a place in the grand final.
Score: Longwarry 31 d Kooweerup 20. Best: Annie Pryjmak, Longwarry.
D GRADE
A nervous start by Buln Buln saw Nar Nar Goon gain a threegoal lead.
Buln Buln then settled to even the score and good pressure by both sides had them even at the first break.
Both teams tried to take control with Buln Buln missing some vital goals.
The turnovers were costly to both sides, however Nar Nar Goon was steady in the goal circle, leading 2217 at halftime.
Strong play in offence and defence saw Nar Nar Goon increase its lead to nine goals half way through the third quarter.
The rest of the term was even, although turnovers took Buln Buln to within five goals heading into the last quarter.
Buln Buln started strongly to bring the margin back to two goals early in the last term with both teams playing strongly goal for goal. With the word from the Buln Buln bench to tighten up the players started to take control with pressure all over the court causing costly turnovers.
Buln Buln outscored Nar Nar Goon 148 to win a exciting game by a goal.
Score: Buln Buln 40 d Nar Nar Goon 39. Best: Prue Evans, Nar Nar Goon.
E GRADE
Buln Buln started strongly, breaking the first Kooweerup centre.
Kooweerup quickly settled but great intercepts by Buln Buln defenders Renee Cook and Bethany Leslie turned the ball over to have their team lead by two at the first break.
The second quarter started with strong centre play by both teams making it hard to get the ball down to either end.
Kooweerup was the stronger starting team this quarter and made excellent use of turnovers to take a 129 lead at halftime.
The third quarter was still Kooweerup’s game, but Buln Buln didn’t give up.
Great shooting by Kooweerup goalers Shanae Ingram and Sam Belsham gave the team a sixgoal lead at threequarter time.
Both teams came out strongly in the final term, never giving up on the loose balls, making for a great display of skills and contest.
Buln Buln made a late quarter charge to close the gap, but Kooweerup hung on to win and advance to the grand final.
Score: Kooweerup 23 d Buln Buln 19.
Best: Jade Williams, Kooweerup.
F GRADE
The game started evenly with good goaling by Ellinbank and the Dusties before Ellinbank made a couple of breaks.
This seemed to unsettle the Dusties, but after an injury time for the team’s goal defence Brittany Kimmitt, the players regrouped and got back within two goals.
Ellinbank then had a late run to be up by four at quartertime.
A few quick breaks at the start of the quarter saw Dusties score four unanswered goals to draw level.
From then on, both teams found it hard to find the goal ring with great defensive work right down the court. Ellinbank held a 1311 lead at the main break.
The third quarter was a well foughtout affair with the Dustied bridging the gap on many occasions only to have Ellinbank pull away again.
A burst of goals at the end of the term gave Ellinbank a fivegoal lead going into the last quarter, when the gap was then cut to a goal.
It was then Ellinbank’s turn for a burst, taking the lead back out to five goals and holding on to win by three.
Score: Ellinbank 25 d Dusties 22. Best: Tara Goodwin, Ellinbank.
