It was a disappointing end to a fantastic season for the Pakenham Lions A Grade netball team.
The Lions were undone by a motivated Warburton Millgrove outfit 43-38 at Yarra Junction Reserve on Saturday in the Division 1 preliminary final.
The affair was closely contested and highly competitive but Pakenham just couldn’t string together a strong enough momentum wave to push it over the line.
An illness at the most unfortunate time for rising star shooter and league-leading goalscorer Charlotte Hudolin limited the personnel in the forward third.
A strong defensive effort from the Burras in the first quarter made scoring difficult and they took advantage, leading 12-8 at the first break.
The second term proved to be an even bigger struggle on the scoring front as the Lions managed just six goals for the term, but Warburton Millgrove could only score seven, leaving the halftime score at 19-14.
Pakenham brought back the deficit to three goals at the final change before rallying in the last and momentarily taking the lead.
However, the experience and versatility of the Burras shone through and they stood tall to grind out the result.
“We got two goals up and then some decision making cost us and it evaporated unfortunately,” Pakenham head coach Matt Cooke said.
“Warburton are a very experienced side with some very experienced athletes, they played the way they wanted to for four quarters.”
Kelly Cousins did a lot of the heavy lifting as the main goal source, while Emma Jones and Caitlin Cooke provided admirable performances in defeat.
Despite the fact that the Lions were eliminated, Cooke had a very positive outlook on 2025.
“It’s a great growth out of the group this year,” he reflected.
“Every year, we like to take a step forward.
“We’re just really happy with the year we’ve had, it was unknown to us what the competition was going to be like and what our opposition was going to be like.
“Just to keep at it and change the way you work when the circumstances change, that was impressive.
“The maturity that is being built into the playing group being able to shift, change, respond and to do things differently when required has been really important.
“We’re going to leverage that in the future.
“It’s been a great building block for the whole club.
“The engagement with the footy club has been really good.
“It’s been a really solid year from a whole club level.
“The depth in our junior programs as well as our current netball program so we’re looking forward to a really good year next year.”
Warburton Millgrove now heads into the A Grade grand final on Saturday at Yarra Glen Reserve where Seville awaits.
For Pakenham, the rest of the netball grades had a good weekend as every outfit from under-17s through to B Grade has earned a spot in the grand final.
In the top flight’s second week of A Grade finals, Emerald was eliminated after falling just short in a brave performance against Monbulk.
The Bombers fell behind by eight at halftime and 10 at the final break before clawing back into the contest but ultimately were edged out 56-50.
Peri Reid scored 37 goals for the Hawks and was among the best-on-court, while she was supported well by Stephanie Ferguson and Paige Whitworth.
For Emerald, Brodie Smith, Madison Taylor and Krista Tomlinson all fought hard on the afternoon and were excellent.
Minor premiers Mount Evelyn completely stole the game away from Wandin in the second semi-final as the Bulldogs led at every break but went down 40-39.
Wandin held a four-goal buffer at halftime that was reduced to one at the final change before the Rovers rode the momentum and booked their spot in the grand final.
The Bulldogs will do battle with Monbulk at Gembrook Reserve on Sunday, with a chance to face Mount Evelyn for the flag on the line.
