Parrots Under 15s netballers down but not out of finals race
It was two up and two down for Leongatha at the start of Second Semi-final day at Morwell on Saturday but both the Under 16 boys and 15 and under netball girls get a second chance. See details:
LEONGATHA was well represented on Second Semi-final day at Morwell on Saturday with the Under 16 boys and 15 and under netball girls starting the day off for the club, unfortunately without success.
But the 15 and under girls in particular gave a good account of themselves against Traralgon, closing to within two goals with the next centre pass midway through the last quarter.
It wasn’t a surprise to see these two teams evenly matched after they shared the honours in a 38-all draw in Round 15 on July 18 at Traralgon.
Traralgon went into three-quarter time with a 19-15 lead after Leongatha had closed to within a couple with a good third quarter.
Traralgon’s goalers were both hitting the mark when they got the ball but Richards and Effern were taking up good positions in defence for Leongatha and forcing them to shoot from range.
A great intercept by Effern got the ball going Leongatha’s way late in the term, and she came forward to win the ball back again, but the siren sounded just as Leongatha was surging forward.
Leongatha started the last quarter well with a nice take in the goal ring by Ashlee Spark and a goal but they didn’t take the opportunity of the next centre pass to double up. The Leongatha defenders did the job again however and a nice exchange of passes between Spark and the Leongatha shooter Anika Edwards resulted in a goal and it was only two the difference with plenty of time to go.
The teams went goal for goal for a while but with plenty of loose ball at both ends of the court, they game there to be won.
At a crucial moment, with the chance to cut the difference to one, Leongatha threw the ball away in attack and the Maroons counter-attacked to stretch the lead to three, then four after the next centre pass as a mid-range shot by Traralgon’s Isa Bloomfield swished through.
As time ticked away, the Traralgon shooters held their nerve and went on to a 27-20 victory as Leongatha had something of a goal drought in the closing minutes.
But the Leongatha girls were right in it until the closing stages, and they produced more than enough turnovers throughout the game to give them plenty of confidence should they meet again in the grand final.
The Leongatha Under 15s get a second chance now and will travel up to Sale next Saturday, to something of a happy hunting ground for Leongatha’s netballers in recent years, with another chance to secure a grand final berth.
