Beautiful conditions for netball on Saturday signalled the first round of the Griffith Netball Association finals series. The 10 year olds kicked off proceedings and LaPetite Lightning and the South Grove Angels were particularly excited to play each other after competing against 11 year olds for much of the year. South Grove got the win 9-4.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In the 11 year old division, Area Refrigeration Bluebirds progressed to next week’s major semi, but did not have it all their way with Ladybirds holding them to 5 all deep into the second quarter. With just a few minutes to go before half time, Area Refrigeration found their groove and went to the break with a two goal lead, and maintained their momentum to win well.
In the other 11s fixture, R & B Diggers took on the Griffith Public All Stars for safe passage into the grand final. The game featured some great defensive work from both sides, but the All Stars were too strong in the end, winning by 9 goals, leaving Diggers to face the Area Refrigeration Bluebirds in next week’s elimination final.
In the 12/13 division, Beko and 3C Stars took the court in sudden death, with Beko winning and ensuring they get to play another day. Beko were unlucky not to finish second at the end of the regular season, and they certainly put a strong performance out this week. They will take on Midstate Gunn Accounting, who performed well in their loss against the very consistent Xquisite Dolphins. The Xquisite Dolphins haven’t dropped a game all season and are hot favourites to take out the title.
Athletes Foot D Grade featured one of the matches of the day between the JBS Thunderbirds and the AES Rockets. At half time the Thunderbirds were up by five, however, the Rockets took off in the third quarter and outscored the Thunderbirds by 9 goals to 3, giving them a one goal lead at three quarter time. In a thrilling last term, the AES Rockets struggled to convert their chances and at the end of an hour of netball the result was a draw. Extra time was needed and after a further 10 minutes it was the Thunderbirds who gained the ascendency to win by 33 goals to 30.
In the other D Grade fixture, Bardney Metal Fabrications defeated Vaccari’s Bakery by 11 goals, after Bardney’s opened up a good lead of 8 goals by half time. This sees Vaccari’s bow out of the competition after a strong season, so well done girls. Bardney will have their work cut out for them if they are to overcome AES Rockets next week, but anything can happen in finals netball, and the match will be a good one.
MIA Coaches C Grade one versus two was epic, with another period of extra time required to split Rep 13 and Pinnacle. For many of the Rep 13 girls, this was their second game and second session of extra time and they dug very deep to run away with the match winning by 6. Pinnacle gets another bite of the cherry next week against Suncorp. The two teams last met in round 9 and Pinnacle were victorious, so they will be looking to repeat that result on the weekend.
Ill Corso B Grade featured a really tight contest between the very evenly matched Deadlies and PFD Swifts. With scores locked at three quarter time, it went down to the wire again between these two teams, with PFD getting the win in the end and a grand final berth. Deadlies will play Calabria Wines who accounted for the Dreamers and they will be hoping for another crack at PFD in a few weeks time with a win next week.
In Coro Club A Grade action, Griffith Motor Group survived a last quarter challenge by Pinnacle courtesy of some athletic work from centre Arabella Bardney and excellent shooting from Chloe Perez and Georgia Hill. Pinnacle will take on Fresh Health and Fitness / Masters of Hair, who ended Tonann’s season with a good second half performance in which they scored 13 goals, and limited Tonann to just one.