A SEVEN goal to none run by Ouyen United in the second quarter was the deal-breaker in their 37-33 preliminary-final win over the Mildura Demons on Saturday.
It set up a replay of the 2019 SFNL A-grade grand final against Wentworth this Saturday indoors at Mildura Sporting Precinct.
Both sides started nervously, with wayward passes and tentative shots littering the first five minutes.
A decent southerly wind forced both sides to adjust their styles accordingly. The wind made it hard to weigh throws perfectly, meaning lob passing was vulnerable to getting blown out of court or falling to a defender. In adjustment, Ouyen’s midcourt in Kyra Nathan and Ellen Morrish utilised the bounce pass to perfection to reliably feed Casey Crothers and Esther Manley.
Mildura’s dynamic front court, led by Jess McNamara, created a lot more space in their attacking third, but a few rushed passes enabled Ouyen to get on a roll to lead nine goals to six at the first change.
Ouyen made their charge in the second quarter, winning the quarter 12 goals to seven.
When asked post-game what was the difference in the second quarter, coach Kyra Nathan noted the strong shooting of Crothers and Manley.
“Our goals dropped in the second quarter,” said Nathan. “In the first quarter, we were getting the ball, but it would come out just as fast. Our shooters got their goals in, and that made a big difference.”
Ouyen had only two missed shots resulting in turnover in the second quarter, compared to Mildura’s five.
This was helped by a composed attack, which allowed the Kangas to take high percentage shots. The Kangas earned every pass, with a defender right on them, resulting in plenty of contact calls.
Mildura made some shrewd changes at half time, switching young star Ava Zadow into their attack and bringing Millicent Seward into their defence.
Seward gave the Demons voice and even more physicality and Zadow was hard to stop in attack, scoring all 11 of the Demons goals.
The quarter was played at a frenetic pace, with 20 goals being scored despite there being 22 turnovers.
Star Kanga defenders Catherine Brown and Tsharni Burns created five intercepts between them that quarter, which was vital with a few errors creeping into the Kangas’ offence. The Kangas took a six-goal lead into the last quarter.
The nerves kicked in again in the last quarter, which played into Ouyen’s hands as the time ticked down.
The Kangas scored seven of the first 10 goals of the quarter to seal their grand-final berth.
Four consecutive Kangas’ possessions with a turnover enabled six straight goals to Zadow, which brought some panic back into the game, but it was too little too late for the Demons, with the final margin being four goals.
Mildura coach Sharon Watson lamented her side’s slow start.
“I am gutted,” she said. “We didn’t play our game as well as we should have. Ouyen were patient and kept plugging away. Once they got the lead, they knew how to maintain the lead. Maybe if there were another five minutes, we could have given it a good shake.”
Mildura has successfully used young players in their line-up this season, with vice-captain Zadow being a standout.
“We are really proud of the young players we brought on today,” said Watson. “They all stepped up.
“As we saw today, you put the young ones on, they have a red-hot crack and I love it.”
Kyra Nathan was all smiles post-game.
“Our girls played our game, staying calm and playing to our structures, our defenders were amazing,” she said.
Incredibly, it was the first time that Ouyen played the same starting seven in consecutive weeks this season.
The Kangas will be relying on that duo heavily to quell Amanda Edwards next week, as Ouyen looks to pull off mission impossible to beat the untouchable Roos.
“We came from fourth in 2019, so we were underdogs that time,” Nathan said. “We know how Wentworth play. We know that they are really fit. “They have been the team to beat all year. We will have to be smart next week.”
