By David Nagel
The stage is set for an absorbing four-week battle for the WGFNC A Grade premiership cup after the preliminary rounds finished with some thrilling matches on Saturday.
All teams from one to five on the ladder will head into finals with a strong belief that this could be their year, while Phillip Island appears to have a tough challenge ahead as it enters an elimination final against Tooradin-Dalmore on the back of a five-game losing streak.
The depth of this year’s finals series is epitomised by the form of Nar Nar Goon, who for the second week running pushed a legitimate premiership contender all the way to the final whistle.
The Goon, who finished the season in fifth place, went down fighting against ladder-leaders Inverloch-Kongwak on Saturday, in a 36-38 scoreline that had the same look and feel as a hard-fought two-goal loss to Tooradin-Dalmore just seven days earlier.
Both teams were at their brilliant best defensively, with the Sea Eagles’ 12-goal third term the highest of any team in the contest.
IK led 10-8 at quarter time before the Goon came bouncing back to level the scores at 17-all midway through the match.
Chantelle Dale (C), Bec Cox (WD) and evergreen performer Meaghan Winter (WA) took the game right up to the Sea Eagles, who were asked some serious questions by the Goon as they headed into the half-time break.
The Sea Eagles responded like only very good teams can do, scoring 12-9 in the third to open up a winning break.
Coach Jarrad Walker was down a couple of stars, with regular starters Rahni Mann and Tayla Robb missing in action on the weekend, but the Sea Eagles still found a way to get the job done.
Renee Pilkington was moved from wing defence to centre after half time and had a huge influence through the midcourt, while Lanni Pryor (WA), Ella Sadler (GA), Kelly Boyd (GS) and Tayla Smith (GK) were rock-solid contributors across the four quarters.
By finishing on top, the Sea Eagles have earned a well-deserved week’s rest, while the Goon girls have an extra day to prepare for a Sunday shootout against Dalyston.
What an absoluter cracking contest that is going to be, with both teams fighting for the season survival!
The other team to earn a week off is Bunyip, who won the battle for the double chance with a hard-fought 50-40 victory over Dalyston.
The Bulldogs thoroughly deserve to put their feet up this weekend after Saturday’s win made it seven victories on the trot.
Amongst those wins are Dalyston (twice), Nar Nar Goon and Tooradin-Dalmore who are certainly no mugs in the grand scheme of things.
The Magpies entered this match-up coming off a five-game streak of their own, and it’s hard to believe that either the Goon or Magpies will be packing their bags and saying farewell this Sunday.
Reigning premier Tooradin-Dalmore needed to thump Kooweerup to be any chance of earning second place on the ladder, and the Seagulls upheld their part of the bargain with a 90-10 smashing at Denhams Road.
Unfortunately for the Gulls, they need Dalyston to sneak across the line against Bunyip to be a chance, but that one went narrowly the wrong way.
The Gulls were awesome, becoming the first team to put 90 goals on the board for the season.
Alex Duff netted 37 goals, with Kayla Bratic (27) and Alex Maher (26) not too far behind.
It’s hard to see the Gulls being troubled by Phillip Island this Saturday, but netball is a funny game.
In other games, Warragul Industrials finished off their season in style, defeating an under-staffed Cora Lynn, 57-42, while Korumburra-Bena held on in a nail-biter against Phillip Island.
The Giants eventually missed out on finals by percentage, but still celebrated hard after a thrilling 32-31 triumph.
Garfield rounded out its season with the bye.
WGFNC FINALS
Saturday, 20 August, 2022
1st Elimination Final (3 v 6)
Bass Recreation Reserve
A Grade: Tooradin-Dalmore (3) v Phillip Island (6) 2.45pm
B Grade: Phillip Island (3) v Dalyston (6) 1.30pm
C Grade: Dalyston (3) v Cora Lynn (6) 12.30pm
D Grade: Dalyston (3) v Tooradin-Dalmore (6) 11.30am
17 Under: Phillip Island (3) v Cora Lynn (6) 10.30am
15 Under: Korumburra-Bena (3) v Nar Nar Goon (6) 9.40am
13 Under: Kooweerup (3) v Tooradin-Dalmore (6) 8.50am
11 Under: Dalyston (3) v Kilcunda-Bass (6) 8.00am
Sunday, 21 August, 2022
2nd Elimination Final (4 v 5)
Bunyip Recreation Reserve
A Grade: Dalyston (4) v Nar Nar Goon (5) 2.45pm
B Grade: Nar Nar Goon (4) v Inverloch-Kongwak (5) 1.30pm
C Grade: Garfield (4) v Nar Nar Goon (5) 12.30pm
D Grade: Nar Nar Goon (4) v Kilcunda-Bass (5) 11.30am
17 Under: Inverloch-Kongwak (4) v Tooradin-Dalmore (5) 10.30am
15 Under: Bunyip (4) v Dalyston (5) 9.40am
13 Under: Cora Lynn (4) v Warragul Industrials (5) 8.50am
11 Under: Tooradin-Dalmore (4) v Phillip Island (5) 8.00am
RESULTS
A GRADE: Dalyston 40 v Bunyip 50, Kilcunda-Bass 0 v Garfield 20, Kooweerup 10 v Tooradin-Dalmore 90, Nar Nar Goon 36 v Inverloch-Kongwak 38, Phillip Island 31 v Korumburra-Bena 32, Warragul Industrials 57 v Cora Lynn 42.
LADDERS
A GRADE W L D F A % PTS
Inverloch-Kongwak 17 1 0 916 423 216.55 68
Bunyip 15 3 0 928 534 173.78 60
Tooradin-Dalmore 15 3 0 847 602 140.70 60
Dalyston 14 4 0 731 540 135.37 56
Nar Nar Goon 12 6 0 818 660 123.94 48
Phillip Island 8 10 0 815 736 110.73 32
Korumburra Bena 8 10 0 609 654 93.12 32
Cora Lynn 7 11 0 670 666 100.60 28
Garfield 6 12 0 610 753 81.01 24
Warragul Industrials 5 13 0 653 1020 64.02 20
Koo Wee Rup 1 17 0 406 1055 38.48 4
Kilcunda Bass 0 18 0 0 360 0.00 0
