WHOEVER says netball isn’t a contact sport wasn’t at the Red Cliffs versus Irymple SFNL A Grade netball elimination final at George Gordon Oval in Dareton on Sunday.
It was an absolute cracker of a game with the Tigers coming from 10 goals down to win by two in double overtime.
The first quarter was physical, with players keeping each other accountable and, on occasion, hitting the asphalt.
However, Indi Spratt for the Swallows kept her feet and gave goal attack Sam Garraway some nice opportunities in the ring, despite close checking from Red Cliffs defenders Iliseva Sovau and Morna Naquto.
Irymple finished the first quarter with an eight-goal lead.
The second quarter continued with more of the same, with Irymple wing attack Tarlia Couzner playing well and Alice Leeder in keeper sticking to Tigers tall Zara Copley.
Irymple’s Sophie Price had the measure of Red Cliffs wing attack Jorja Parker, and the Swallows increased their lead to ten goals at halftime.
The third quarter started with teams going goal for goal, and Tigers defender Yolanda Richardson matched up well against Swallows’ goal attack Shelby Trigg, who barely missed in the first half.
The Tigers had some catching up to do, but Jacqulyn Bell in centre and the Naquto girls got together in defence to get Red Cliffs within four goals at the last change.
And then came Jazmin Parker in goal attack for the Tigers.
Swallows’ goal defence Kasey Caristo did a great job against her for three quarters, but Parker let loose after Tigers players lifted their game, scoring five goals in as many minutes.
At the final siren, scores were tied.
The overtime was nail-biting with lots of spills as fatigue set in for both teams.
After 20 minutes, Red Cliffs got two goals clear and stole the game from Irymple, and Tigers coach Romany Bowen said recovery will be important as well as resting her voice for next week’s game against Robinvale.
“There’s a few sore bodies, I won’t lie, we’ve just got to recover as best we can into next Sunday now,” she said.
“We knew the heat would get us, so we prepped for that, but yeah, we knew it was going to be physical; we just didn’t expect an extra-long game, we’ll suck it up.”
Bowen said, although her team were behind at halftime, she urged them to focus on playing well and to keep their eyes off the scoreboard.
“We’ve come from that low before and won games, so we have that belief that we can do it,” she said.
“If we don’t dwell on it, we stay focused, and we just stay as a close unit a lot of our senior girls step up and talk in the group as well.”
