Eagles fast out and into decider
NEWTOWN & Chilwell has booked its fifth consecutive grand final appearance with a 14-goal win against South Barwon in Saturday’s second semi-final.
The Eagles, who have not lost since 2012 in a period of unrivalled dominance, hit the ground running to open up a nine-goal lead at the first change before winning 54-40.
Eagles coach Jason Woolley paid credit to his side’s full-court defensive pressure, which helped force turnovers for Kathleen Knott (40 goals at 89 per cent) to assert her control on the game.
“After quarter-time we started to get a few more turnovers,” Woolley said.
“Amy Wirth and Jackie Newton came into the game and helped us establish that lead.
“We defended well across the court, and Kath Knott was solid in goal shooter.
“The game was really tight, and it felt tight the whole game, which is what we expected from South.”
Newtown will play the winner of next week’s South Barwon-St Albans preliminary final.
The Supersaints weathered a spirited Bell Park fightback yesterday to win by three goals, after leading by nine at the final break.
Star shooter Tharjini Sivalingan could not miss, finishing with 49 goals from 52 attempts.
Adam Sloane said South Barwon’s defensive pressure needed to be addressed.
“We will go back and look at our court structure, and refine some, and to ensure we have some solid attacking plays,” Sloane said.
“Lately our defensive pressure has picked up. Yesterday we made Newtown work the ball more than they’re used to which is positive for us.
“There were a couple patches where we didn’t execute our set plays or just gave the ball to the wrong option.
“It was a close contest, and a couple times we had our heads down and weren’t aware of the players and space around us.”
Newtown 54 d South Barwon 40; St Albans 61 d Bell Park 58
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