FEW armchair critics gave Tooradin’ s Agrade any kind of show against ROC at the weekend, but its will and determination to should have answered even the harshest critics.
In the end it failed by a mere three goals to cause a huge upset.
Keren Van Der Heyden was best at overcoming nerves in the first term, shooting at 100 per cent and carving up the goal ring.
Kate Lynch put on a big one with her best goaling performance for the season and produced not only impressive statistics but blistering pace around the ring.
At the other end, however, Tooradin’s defenders were having a tough time of it and let too much through to be four down by the first break.
The shining light in defence for Tooradin was Tenneale Wells on the wing who threw herself at everything and was unlucky not to turn more deflections into clear intercepts.
One minor change to the backline was just the ticket in the second term with Michelle Barnes, playing through an injury and far more at home in GD, showing her experience in the hard contests.
Rachel Splatt was more than a match for her more experienced opposition and was the key to the Tooradin turnaround.
Stacey McConnell was awesome through the midcourt, especially on defence.
Shona Wells also played out of her skin on the wing, leaving her hapless opponent wondering.
The third term saw the frenetic pace of the game slow markedly as the adrenalin started to wear off for both teams and fatigue became a factor.
So the fresh legs of Sara Drain on the wing were much needed and helped raise the tempo to drive the ball through the midcourt.
Sharna Wadeson also took to the court without fear, shooting superbly from long range and using blistering passing in and out of the ring to bamboozle ROC.
It was almost criminal to take Kate Lynch out of the goal ring considering her stellar performance in the first half but her anticipation and reach in centre was also a bestoncourt performance.
Several times throughout the second half Tooradin fought valiantly to peg back the ROC lead, even managing to draw level, but then just failed to get up.
Tooradin won the final quarter, but finally came up short in a hotly contested match.
Score: ROC 45 d Tooradin 42.
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