Power and class see Wentworth through
WENTWORTH have claimed their second consecutive SFNL A Grade premiership in a fast and psychical battle against Mildura.
Coming in as the hot favorites, the Roos were dominant and powerful and finished with a score of 59-37.
Mildura were impressive with their ability to fight in all positions, but the girls were not able to come back after an early lead was taken by the Roos.
Wentworth coach Amanda Edwards was once again formidable in goals, earning her self best on court.
She said it was a huge relief to finish the season off with the win.
“Today was tough, they brought it every quarter, but I am so happy,” she said.
Molly Mangan and Ash Cameron were impressive in the midcourt for the Roos, intercepting several balls and picking up loose ones at every chance.
The defensive trio of Christie Becker, Courtney Wakefield and Natalie Vercher were in top form shutting down almost everything brought their way and the combination of Liz Rowe and Edwards shone on the day.
Mildura, who never gave up fighting, were led well by Ellie Vincent, who was impressive under goal and in centre, and Ava Zadow and Milli Seward, who pushed hard in defence.
Mildura coach Sharon Watson said she was “sad” that the girls couldn’t walk away with the win, but “super proud” of their efforts.
“We battled hard but Wentworth showed why they are the number-one team. They just dominated in positions,” she said.
“At the end of the day, they deserved it.”
She said this loss would be a great learning opportunity for the team’s younger girls as they progressed with netball.
“Again they are such a young bunch, but they dug deep,” she said.
“They tried hard and they will learn from that and hopefully come bigger and stronger.”
Wentworth’s B Grade netballers celebrate their premiership. Picture: Meagan Verstappen
Deja Roo? Same clubs, same result in B Grade
WENTWORTH was seeing double on Saturday, as its B Grade side defeated Mildura just an hour after its A Grade side had done exactly the same.
The tough B Grade game played out similarly to its predecessor, with Wentworth maintaining a lead for the whole-game to win 48-32.
Wentworth B Grade coach Natalie Vercher, who is a part of the A grade squad, was elated after the game.
“I am so so proud of the girls, they worked so hard,” she said.
“We have been training together, so to get A and B both with a win is just a dream come true.”
Vercher said the girls knew they had to start well in order to defeat Mildura.
“We have had some really close battles with Mildura and credit to them, they absolutely came at us,” she said.
“Once we had that lead at the start, we had to keep pushing on and they did that really well.”
Wentworth, who finished the home and away season at the top of the ladder, were represented well all over the court.
Abby and Rachel Rowe were impressive in defense, while goal attack Sam Wall was in top form, earning herself best on court.
“Sam Wall was amazing,” Vercher said.
“She hasn’t won a premiership with us, she has been in a few but hadn’t won one so we were trying to do that for her today and for her to get best on was cherry on the cake.”
Mildura were strong across the court, with goal shooter Zara Copley one her team’s best, along with midcourter Jarni Hay, who had her hands all over the ball.
However, it was not Mildura’s day as they just couldn’t catch up with the Roo’s strong lead.
Vercher thanked A Grade coach Amanda Edwards for help run trainings and credited the the club for its culture.
“It is just one really strong unit we have at Wenty,” she said.
“It looks like that from the outside and it truly is on the inside.”
Wentworth went on to finish the day even stronger with a C Reserve win over Irymple.
However, Wentworth’s two other teams, 17s and Under Div 1 and 15 and Under Div 2, both lost to Mildura.
NETBALL GRAND FINAL SCORES – ALL GRADES
