Players shine on

EARLY morning sunshine was a welcome sight for Goulburn’s netballers on Saturday. However it was short lived, soon disappearing as the familiar heavy cloud moved in.

Much of Round 12 was played amid the constant threat of the wet weather returning, although the sun made a brief reappearance for part of the senior games. Shannon Webb and Cheyanne Baxendine led the way for the St Josephs Netta girls.

Webb, despite her stature, easily mixed it with her taller opponents. She constantly found space on the court for her team to give uncontested passes her way. Baxendine was impressive, showing early signs of a natural ability to read the play.

Christine Rajapakshe was the stand out player for the St Peter and Pauls Netta team. Rajapakshe was driven to pounce on loose balls, at times literally throwing herself into the task at hand. She showed terrific stamina, attacking each loose ball toward the end of the game as if she were a fresh player.

Joeys Jets’ strong team play combined with their quick passes down the court, handed them a convincing win over the in form North Ninjas. Strong shooting from Naomi Gordon-Anderson, supported by Georgia Caton gave the Jets a winning lead.

Kirsty Toole from the Jets showed tremendous versatility, playing equally strongly both in the defending and shooting circle. Toole further demonstrated her versatility, playing the second quarter as Centre. Shania Cole at wing attack was best on court for Ninjas.

The other Junior match between the Pandas and Dudettes looked set to be a close encounter. With a 6 – 4 score line favouring the Pandas at half time, little seemed to separate the two teams. The Pandas’ beautiful pairing of Lucy Condylios with Meg Burgess in the third quarter turned the match. Condylios and Burgess scored five unanswered goals in the third to set up a seven point lead heading into the fourth. Isobel Burgun defended well for the Dudettes, keeping the Pandas scoreless in the final quarter.

Pandas had done enough though in the third to emerge the victors. In a game of fast passes and laughs aplenty, the Flying Flamingos cruised to an easy win over the Purple Diamonds. The Diamonds struggled to match the shooting of Flamingos’ Catherine White and Abbey Wyles.

The Flamingos extended their half time three point lead in the third and fourth quarters to eventually take the match 25 – 15.

Trinity Poppers weren’t troubled in their match up against rivals Trinity Sparx. Cassie Russell was strong for the Poppers in the mid court, while Ashley Langford put in a fine game defending. Sparx’s Claudia Maddren continues to use her height and versatility to her advantage.

The Sparx are the youngest team in the Intermediate Division and every week improve against their older more experienced opposition. Poppers were comfortable in their 36 – 10 win.

The round of comfortable wins continued in the Intermediate Division with the Mulwaree Fireflies taking the points over Trinity Husslers. Emma Doolan from the Husslers came up with valuable intercepts to give her team every chance to score points. The Fireflies are a well drilled and skilled team. Their team play is exceptional, the benefit of having been a team for a number of years. Fireflies were too strong in this one taking the win 30 – 5.

The upset of the round came in the Cadet Division. The fired up U/15’s showed they are contenders for a grand final berth in September. Last years’ Premiers, Ferocious Fairies, were left in the wake of the U/15’s dominant play.

The teams were all even at the end of the first quarter. From here the U/15’s slammed down the accelerator and hammered out a 34 – 26 win. The U/15’s are hitting form at the right end of the season and have shown they are capable of an upset in this Division.

The team to beat this year in the Cadet Division is the Hot Shots. They haven’t really been tested this season and this week was no different, cruising to an easy 28 – 13 win over the Trinity Bliss. There has been no better demonstration of the strength of the Hot Shots than this game.

They played the entire game with just five players, opting to play without their wings. This meant a ton of extra mid court work for their centre, goal attack and goal defence. Big and deserving win to the Hot Shots. It was hard to pick a player of the game from this one but Amy Hayes stood out as centre cause of the extra work she managed to get through.

In the Senior Division, top of the ladder Dominotrix took an easy victory from Blue Bogans. Impressive in this match was Amy Hayes who continued to give everything despite the high workload from her previous game.

Meanwhile, an impressively fired up and passionate U/17’s came home strong in the final half to give the Catastrophies a scare. The U/17’s showed exactly what they are capable of as a team in this game. They were hungry for the ball and desperate to get the turn over.

The Catastrophies were rattled in the second half, particularly in the final quarter, as they struggled to shut down this hunger and desperation. Taylor Backhouse was very impressive for the U/17’s in defence, time after time spoiling the Catastrophies feed into the circle.

Despite the second half charge the Catastrophies had done enough in the first half to take the win 24 – 17. Following the school holiday break, the GDNA 100 Club made a popular return with numbers selling out fast. Congratulations to this weeks’ winner Margaret Cocking.

We are fortunate enough to have NSW Swifts Player Susan Pratley coming to Goulburn on August 28. She will hold a coaching clinic for interested players, costing $35. Make sure you register for Pratley’s coaching clinic, it is always a popular event on the Goulburn Netball Calendar.