Saints still live in hope
ST Mary’s coach Renee Garing is confident her side can close the gap on South Barwon if the two sides meet again in finals.
The Saints suffered a 56-42 qualifying final loss to the Swans on Saturday, but went down without key goalers Mary Waldron and Hannah van Gemst, who were on VNL duty.
South Barwon shot away to a 19-9 quarter-time lead and never looked like losing, booking a date with Newtown & Chilwell for a spot in the grand final next week.
“We always knew it was going to be tough without Mary and Hannah, but South played better and were the better team,” Garing said.
“I’m happy we didn’t let it blow out after the first quarter. The girls fought back each quarter.
“Hopefully, if we do play them again, it will be a completely different game.”
Molly Gribble (12/22) and Elley Heard (30/41) stepped in to fill the void left by the two St Mary’s stars in attack.
The Swans were led by Ruby Horton (44/48) and Kate Thompson, with their height hard to contain for Saints Kate Fowles and Claudia Conway.
“Claudia came up from Bgrade when we lost Zoe (Donne) and she did a great job on Ruby. She got quite a few turnovers through the game and did an excellent job,” Garing said.
“For her to step up and show that was above and beyond what we expected in that aspect of the game.”
The Saints will now tackle St Joseph’s after the Joeys ended Colac’s season with a 56-41 win in yesterday’s elimination final.
St Joseph’s was simply the stronger side after halftime, shutting down the Tigers’ scoring options on the way to the 15-goal win.