Burdekin set to roll after shaking off hiatus effects
BURDEKIN coach Cara Trindle believes her team has finally blown away the cobwebs of the COVID-19 hiatus, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
The Burdekin has earned a place in the Townsville City Netball premier finals after downing Highlanders 57-36, which gave Burdekin a fourthplaced finish at the end of the regular season.
Trindle’s team was walking a tightrope in the lead up to
Monday night’s game, having gone without a win in its previous four games.
Losses to Phoenix (44-38), Saints (53-46) and Neptunes (55-42) put Burdekin on the verge of missing finals despite enjoying a stellar run of form featuring three straight wins before COVID-19 stopped Trindle’s team in its tracks.
“Our comeback from COVID-19 break wasn’t best,” Trindle said.
“But that being said, we played against three very good teams and a couple of those the the games were close results. But we really stepped it up last night and we came back like the team we were before COVID-19.
“The girls worked really hard at training and focused on making minimal unforced errors, so the hard work is paying off.”
Burdekin dominated for most of the contest, but were forced to lift in the second quarter when Highlanders made a fightback.
“Our start to that quarter wasn’t so flash, we really were a little flat,” Trindle said. “But we didn’t let ourselves get overwhelmed, and the girls were able to stay focused and stick to what we had worked on at training.”
Burdekin will play Marian in next week’s semi-finals, with Marian going down to Runaways 49-28 in their final regular season outing.
“It’s finals now, so anything can happen,” Trindle said.
“We’ll focus on our game and what we need to improve on, and hopefully come Monday we’ll get the job done.”
Minor premiers Neptunes made a major statement before the finals by scoring a 63-35 win in the final round’s other game.
Neptunes will play runners up Saints in next week’s major semi-final.
“It was nice to get everyone on court and try some combinations together that have been working well at seniors,” Neptunes coach Judy Bulley said.
“Our young players really stepped up and showed confidence in their game.”