Award cliffhangers for West Gippsland

THE results of the West Gippsland Football Netball Competition vote count was revealed online on Thursday night.

Phillip Island’s Hayden Bruce took out the Seniors best and fairest – just one vote ahead of Trent Armour from Nar Nar Goon.

In the A Grade netball, it was all tied at the top. 

The honours went to Korumburra-Bena’s Gemma Dixon and Cora Lynn’s Gemma Stacey with 24 points each.

Dixon is a two-time winner, having drawn with Inverloch-Kongwak’s Renee Pilkington last season.

Pilkington has claimed the competition’s A Grade best and fairest three times, and this year was the runner up with 22 points.

She shared the runner up title with teammate Lanni Pryor.

The clubs attended a dinner Warragul Greyhound Club last night (Monday, September 9), where the winners received their medals.

Photos will feature in next week’s edition of the Sentinel Times.

“It was a close competition across the board. The Seniors had a ripping count that came down to just one vote,” West Gippsland Football Netball Competition (WGFNC) operations manager Brett Tessari said.

“Hayden Bruce was a standout player. He had a fantastic season last year and polled well, but unfortunately missed out on the last few games of the season due to injury. He’s proven to be a very strong player and its great to see him get the top honours this season.

“Gemma Dixon is our A Grade best and fairest for the second time in a row and you can see the quality of competition we had this season with so many players tied at the top.”

WGFNC now looks ahead to the grand final this weekend, set to be held in Garfield.

In the Seniors, Phillip Island will take on Nar Nar Goon and in A Grade it will be Inverloch-Kongwak going for a three-peat against Dalyston.

“The netball grand final is going to be an exciting one. Inverloch-Kongwak is after its third win in a row and will be playing Dalyston, which is such a young side. It’ll be a great game,” Tessari said.

“We’re looking forward to great weekend out at Garfield. We’ve had record numbers to every finals game so far, so we can’t to see what the grand final brings.”

The WGFNC winners were as follows:

U16s: Winner: Charlie Fisher (Phillip Island), Runner up: Jayden Worrall (Tooradin Dalmore).

U18s: Winner: Ding Dieng (Garfield), Runner up: Regan Awty (Warragul Industrials).

Reserves: Winner: Jarrod Hamling (Nar Nar Goon), Runner up: Luke Foreman (Cora Lynn).

Seniors: Winner: Hayden Bruce (Phillip Island), Runner up: Trent Armour (Nar Nar Goon). 

U11s: Winner: Shaelee Kinsella (Cora Lynn), Runner up: Ella Bertone (Koo Wee Rup). 

U13s: Winner: Anika Edwards (Korumburra-Bena), Runner up: Bella Hand (Cora Lynn).

U15s: Winner: Maya McDonald (Warragul Industrials), Runner up: Aisha Hibbert (Phillip Island).

U17s: Winner: Maya Huther (Phillip Island), Runner up: Georgia Coleman (Garfield).

D Grade: Winner: Kristie Walker (Garfield), Runner up: Elise Byrne (Garfield).

C Grade: Winner: Bronte Forgiarini (Tooradin Dalmore), Runner up: Esther Evans (Kilcunda-Bass).

B Grade: Winner: Kelly Haynes (Tooradin Dalmore), Runner up: Maddie Taylor (Cora Lynn).

A Grade: Winner: Gemma Dixon (Korumburra-Bena) and Gemma Stacey (Cora Lynn), Runner up: Lanni Pryor (Inverloch-Kongwak) and Renee Pilkington (Inverloch-Kongwak).