Saints do it tough to make final
THEY had to do it the hard way, but Saints have booked their place in a third- straight Townsville City Netball Premier League grand final after overcoming Burdekin 36- 35.
The two- time reigning premiers were given an almighty scare in the fourth quarter on Monday night, as Burdekin fought back from a 10- goal deficit to take the preliminary final down to the wire.
Saints coach Angela Cooper admitted they had switched off in the final term, but she was otherwise happy with their performance heading into Saturday night’s decider against Neptunes.
“We had three great quarters so I was really happy with the start of the game,” Cooper said. “We saw great improvements from the week before and a lot of the stuff we’d worked on at training came out on the court.
“Our fourth quarter was a really bad quarter and we’ll be addressing that at training this week. I felt the girls really connected with each other and our links were fantastic, but we just turned off for that last quarter and got a bit complacent.
“It’s not a good thing to do in a final against a team that wants it so badly and Burdekin really gave it to us. Thank goodness my girls held it together.”
This year’s finals series has been a nail biter, with Saints holding out Phoenix by just four goals in the semifinals while Neptunes edged past Burdekin by one in the qualifier.
Cooper said that Saints’ season already had been tougher than the two premiership wins, but she was confident they had the right mindset to claim a “three- peat” against Neptunes.
“It’s come in the hardest way possible this year, but all the girls are in a really good headspace and keen to make those improvements to get four strong quarters,” she said.
“Our leadership group are fantastic and know when to settle it. They’re so encouraging and supportive of the younger girls we have in the team.
“It’s all really positive.”