St Mary’s keeps itself in contention
ST MARY’S coach Bruce Waldron knows just how important his team’s four-goal win over Lara could be come the end of the season.
With five teams battling it out for the last two spots inside the GFL’s top five that remain up for grabs, the Saints’ 41-37 win keeps them just two points outside the finals places.
It sets up a thrilling end to the season, with finals contenders Colac, St Joseph’s, St Mary’s, Bell Park and Leopold all coming up against each other in the run home. the girls was not as collaborative as last week, so while some individual performances were solid, the connections weren’t as effective,” Riddle said.
“We had our opportunities to win, with one more scoring opportunity, which shows that we didn’t capitalise when we needed to.
“On the day, St Joseph’s were accurate, and impressive.
“However, we didn’t play the brand of netball we have all season. Time will tell who will make the top five, and if we can find some consistency, I’m confident we will be up there.”
C. Lino 19, K. Evans 18. H. Van Gemst 40, M. Gribble 1.
G.E. Stavenuiter, C. Lino, P. Fairchild. Not submitted.
“It’s just too close to call, the whole thing,” Waldron said. “It’s a game of inches, the whole thing. I’ve looked at the draw and I can’t work out who is going to get there and who is not. (The win) is very crucial. There were a lot of nervous moments.”
Unrelenting wind caused havoc on court in Saturday’s match, with both teams struggling to shoot accurately in the gusting conditions.
Hannah van Gemst shot 40 from 51 to lead the way for St Mary’s, while Molly Gribble’s one from 11 was better than the accuracy reads.
For Lara, Kara Evans (18/25) and Courtney Lino (19/29) both toiled away.
Waldron said conditions made it almost impossible to score at the end furthest away from the school gym.
“There were times when the girls were putting the ball up from under the ring and it was missing by 10 foot. The wind would just get a hold of it,” Waldron said. “You had to see it to believe it. The ball would go up and take a right turn.
“One end was so much different to the other it was like playing on two courts.
“There were times when you had the ball under the ring and you chose not to score. You reset the circle and went backwards just to get the ball in when the conditions were better.
“If the wind was gusting and you were at the end away from the gym there was no point shooting.”
While St Mary’s led at every change, Lara was never far away, controlling large patches of the game in the second and third terms.
Meg Blood played her 200th game for St Mary’s in the win.
St Mary’s past three matches, of which it has won two, have been decided by a total of just seven goals.
Waldron joked that he might start needing some Valium on the bench if the tight contests continued.
“It’s not great for the heart,” Waldron said with a laugh. Aguila 12, S. Todd 6.
K. Knott 60, N. Tommasini 7, J. Woolley 3, G. Rogers 1. Best: North Shore — A. Akec, J. Lanigan. Newtown & Chilwell — K. Knott, J. Newton, S. Wolff. R. Best: South Barwon — R. Shannahan, A. Corrigan, R. Horton. Leopold — G. O’Connor, D. Wilson, B. Hyland. Not submitted. Not submitted. K.