IRYMPLE sealed a top-three A Grade finish and the all-important double chance with an emphatic victory over finals hopefuls South Mildura at the Henshilwood Oval courts on Saturday.
The Swallows dominated from the start and increased their lead at each change to win by an impressive 21 points – 51-30.
Their final two games of the regular season are against undefeated juggernaut Wentworth and No.3 side Mildura before a final-round bye.
Irymple coach Sherrie Geister is looking forward to the challenges of the next two weeks before a useful rest preceding the finals … and then another clash with the Demons in the qualifying final.
“It was extremely satisfying today,” Geister said. “We thought this was going to be a tough game and they beat us by a goal last time, so the girls had a bit of fire in their bellies to beat them and to win convincingly like that was icing on the cake
“We are just improving week by week and I am really proud of them. We’ve got a couple of crackers coming up now … and we are ready to take on the challenges,” she said.
“First and foremost, we just worry about our game and whatever comes at us we just try to stick to our team plan and play the style that suits us.”
Former Mildura Heat star Vanessa Power was a force near the net and tallied 31 goals and ever-consistent Sophie Price joined her on the victors’ best list in another even team performance on the sometimes slippery surface.
For the Bulldogs, Tayla Sellens, Eliza O’Sullivan, tall junior Ella Lane and Varanisese Naquto stood out on a team that still has some work to do to seal a finals berth. The team’s record has dropped to 6-7 but their final three games are against sides at the foot of the ladder.
“We had a very tough game,” coach Tara Bate, who was also sidelined by injury, said. “We’ve got a few sick players, so we had some of the girls from the B Grade helping us out.
“We had a bit of a mixture team, but I can’t fault what the girls did. They put the pressure on and really worked hard to keep going through the whole court,” Bate said.
