Slice of history for Cougar under-19s

GEELONG Cougars’ under-19 side made history on Saturday night, becoming the club’s first premiershipwinning team.

The under-19 girls capped off a sensational year with a high-class performance, toppling DC North East Blaze 46-40.

“We have now created a legacy that no one else can achieve — we are the first team to be premiers from the Geelong Netball Club so that gives us enormous satisfaction,” Geelong Cougars coach Melanie Savage said.

“Proud is an understatement. We started this nine months ago. Our goal was to win the grand final and create history for the Geelong Netball Club.

“The result was a reflection of the hard work and how far we have come.”

Heading into the season decider as hot favourite after going through the year undefeated, the Cougars handled the pressure superbly.

They started strongly taking a 12-9 lead into quarter time and managed to keep DC North East at arm’s length for most of the night. Cougars co-captain Riley Stephens was influential at wing defence, while shooters Hannah van Gemst and Mary Waldron performed well after missing GFL duties to play in the match.

Defenders Allie Smith and Brooke Allen, midcourter Georgia Finn, wing attack Laura Cayzer and substitutes Jessie Lang and Mercedes Lewis round out the championship-winning team.

“I am just so proud of the girls, they just fought and fought, it was our last game together and we certainly made it a good one,” Savage said.