IRYMPLE 49
SOUTH MILDURA 45
BEST:
IRYMPLE: M. Wade, S. Geister.
SOUTH MILDURA: B. Scullino, S. Telfer.
THREE THINGS WE LEARNT
HEADING FOR-WADE: Irymple young gun Mackenzie Wade looks to be a good replacement in attack for the injured Steph O’Loughlin.
While Wade has been a shooter throughout her junior days, she had been impressive in defence alongside McKenzie Ryan early in the season.
While she doesn’t match O’Loughlin’s height, granted not many do, she is an accurate shooter and already looks to have built a good rapport and understanding with Sherrie Geister.
EXPERIENCE TELLS: While South Mildura missed their captain Maddy Toms, the experience of Demelza Henry and Tara Hammerstein helped propel the Bulldogs into the lead late in the game.
Bringing cool heads under pressure, the duo helped push along their younger teammates, who rattled the hosts with a late flurry of goals to hit the front.
Unfortunately, they could not hold that advantage in a frantic final few minutes.
TRUE ATHLETES: Netballers almost have to be a paradoxical mix of rubber and cement to play at senior level.
Not only can they hold their positions under real physical pressure, but they can also contort their bodies into all kinds of shapes to keep the ball in, make an intercept and keep their balance.
It was a great display of both physicality, skills and smarts at Henshilwood Oval.
A MASSIVE sigh of relief washed from the Irymple dugouts after the Swallows held on for a four-goal win against South Mildura in SFNL A Grade netball.
In a contest that never saw the lead exceed four goals, a resurgent Bulldogs outfit hit the lead late in the contest and were full of moment through a flurry of scores.
Compusure under pressure from the Swallows, including some clutch plays from former Horkings Medal winner Sherrie Geister, was enough to see them home.
It was a tense, physical and skillful contest between two top teams, however a number of South Mildura passes being cut off during the second and third quarters allowed the home side to score what turned out to be some vital goals.
Irymple coach Travis Coombs admitted it was “a little bit tight” late in the game, but praised the composure of his young side.
“I tried not to yell out because I wanted to see what they would do but it just got the better of me in the end,” he said.
“They were very good, they slowed themselves down and were probably more composed than some of the senior players.
“We’ve got another kid in Sophie Price who was only playing her second game so we’re bringing a lot of kids through so we expect a lot of that sort of stuff. Our first few games where we blew teams away, it helped when we had Steph, but now that we’ve got a lot of kids coming through it probably brings us back a little bit.
“(South’s) Tara (Hammerstein) is quality, so Sophie did really well. She got pushed around a bit, realised what she had to do after half-time and she held her own, I thought.”
Coombs was also full of praise for defenders McKenzie Ryan and Elyse Carter, who grabbed some important interceptions late.
“We’ve been working on a lot of stuff at training and it came to fruition towards the end,” he said.
“Elyse’s baby, I think, is only three months old so she’s doing well to be out there.”
Minus captain Maddy Toms, it was an impressive performance from South Mildura, with wing defender Brianno Scullino throwing herself into every contest and shooter Sarah Telfer proving calm under pressure.
Irymple face another tough contest against a similarly placed team in Imperials on Saturday, while South will look to rebound against Red Cliffs.
