Leongatha to play in five of six preliminary finals

ON THE back of a highly successful weekend of Gippsland League netball for Leongatha, highlighted by a thrilling come-from-behind victory by the A Graders over Drouin on Sunday, the Parrots will line-up in an incredible five out of a possible six preliminary finals at Sale this Saturday.

It was already a positively exhausting weekend for players, club officials and fans last weekend; but they stayed right to the end at Maffra on Sunday when everything clicked for the Parrots in the last quarter of their A Grade game.

Trailing by three at the last change, Leongatha’s A Graders had done an awesome job to stay with Drouin, a team that had beaten them twice during the home and away seasson, by 5 goals and 2 goals.

In netball, upsets aren’t a regular occurrence, and Leongatha was up against it as 

Drouin got it out to a three-goal lead at three-quarter time.

Hannah Flanders and Kate Browne were working well in goals, rarely missing the gettable shots, but at the other end, Drouin’s goalers were matching them.

Through the midcourt it was the same, and Leongatha really needed a spark to turn that around in the last quarter and they got it when they brought on Lara Stefani in Wing Attack. With the right blend of athleticism and speed, Lara constantly presented an option in transition and the Parrots got on a run.

They put on 19 goals to 10 in possibly their best quarter of netball for the year, on attack and when defending, and they got up by a healthy six goals in the end.

Leongatha’s A Grade goes up against Morwell at Sale next Saturday, a team that has had their measure in three games so far this season, by 6, 2 and 8 goals in the qualifying final, but they go in knowing they’ve already achieved a lot this season, and in a sense, it’s a free shot at getting into the grand final.

B Grade also got up in a thriller against Moe at Maffra on Sunday, again trailing at three-quarter time, but putting on 12-9 in the last quarter to win it by two in a match that really could have gone either way.

Leongatha B Grade has the big job in front of them in the prelim at Sale, up against Traralgon, the team that finished the season well clear on the top of the ladder, but who had an absolute shocker against Drouin last Saturday, including a third quarter of 19 goals to 1. How does that even happen?

If you break it down though, Leongatha lost to Traralgon by 7 and 8 during the season which is less than two goals a quarter, so who knows.

The only result that didn’t go Leongatha’s way over the weekend was in C Grade where Leongatha lost a low-scoring affair against Maffra at Morwell on Saturday, 17-28, but Leongatha’s C Graders have a good shot at redemption after Bairnsdale got through, a team they have comfortably accounted for during the season.

The Under 17s comfortably defeated Maffra 42-25 on Sunday and now come up against Sale at Sale, a team with whom they’ve swapped wins this season.

The Under 15s also had a strong win over Bairnsdale and now face a challenge against Traralgon.

With the Leongatha seniors also playing on preliminary final day at Sale this Saturday, up against Moe again, it’s a big day for Parrots’ fans, starting at 10.05am with the Under 15s.