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Around the Courts: Qualifying Finals

Around the Courts: Division 2 Qualifying Finals

By Stephanie Smarrelli

A Grade

Langwarrin came out on top in a tight match against Seaford, defeating the Tigers by six goals.

As a result, Langwarrin will come up against Crib Point in the semi-finals while Seaford will go head-to-head with Hastings who defeated Karingal by five goals on Sunday afternoon.

Seaford were strong early threading the ball to each other with ease while defenders Kara Hargrave and Tracey Dell put pressure on Langwarrin’s feeds into the goal circle.

Langwarrin wing attack Amy Slefendorfas worked well early to create space in the goal third and hit the circle edge well but unfortunately, she landed awkwardly and had to be subbed off for the rest of the match near the end of the first quarter.

Only two goals down at the end of the quarter and with a teammate injured, Langwarrin lifted in intensity throughout the second quarter. A pass that went astray for Seaford resulted in a goal with Langwarrin shooter Brooke Kiely holding her space well.

A strong cross court intercept from Seaford wing defence Alesina Toleafoa would have stopped the Kangaroos from taking full advantage from the previous turnover, however, a contact call went against the Tigers as one player was caught elbowing their opponent. Not making the same mistake twice, Langwarrin passed short and sharply with wing attack Sara Drain feeding the ball with precision to goal attack Melissa Wehner for another goal.

Drain then contributed to another goal for Langwarrin with a pick up from another one of Seaford’s passes giving the Kangaroos the lead.

Staying on their toes in defence, Langwarrin goal defence Emily Zeuschner and goal keeper Jayde Aron were able to deflect the ball and create turnovers for Langwarrin.

By halftime Langwarrin had pushed the lead out to three goals. Seaford worked well in defence during the third quarter to turn ball over with wing defence Nichelle Liepa doing a particularly good job trying to shut down play, however, the Tigers were unable to convert their opportunities into goals with their transitions from one end to the other getting stuck.

Langwarrin’s Drain continued to be a problem for Seaford as she drove fast and hard to the circle edge and set up goal after goal for the Kangaroos. While her teammates contested every ball and kept the pressure on the Tigers to force errors.

At the end of the third quarter, Langwarrin had extended their lead out to five and then continued to remain strong in the final quarter.

Langwarrin’s shooters rewarded the efforts of their teammates in the fourth quarter as they put up shot after shot comfortably despite some strong leans over the ball from Seaford’s defensive players Hargrave, Dell and Claire Rottier.

Through the midcourt Langwarrin were cleaner with possession while the pressure got to Seaford with fumbles and stepping calls going against the Tigers. Seaford challenged Langwarrin on a few passages of play, however, they were unable to have much of an impact with the little errors killing any pressure they started to build in the final quarter.

The Kangaroos finished the match convincingly, however, will want to clean up a few areas ahead of next week’s clash with Crib Point.

Speaking with defender Jayde Aron after the match she said her team put in a strong performance across the court against the Tigers.

“I think we played a full court performance we actually played really well, controlled and showed our skills out there, it was a tough battle though,” she said.

Aron said Langwarrin will need to be more patient next week against Crib Point with their passes and are interested to see the Magpies without Adrienne Harris.

“I think at times we rushed it a bit, you know you get ahead of yourself in netball just patience,”

“We haven’t seen Crib Point since Age [Adrienne Harris] did her ACL, so it’ll be interesting to see what combos they put up but it’ll be a tough battle,” she said.

B Grade

B Grade delivered an absolute thriller on Saturday afternoon with the match going into extra time before Langwarrin defeated Somerville by two goals.

As a result, Langwarrin will face Karingal in the semi-finals while Somerville will go up against Devon Meadows who defeated Seaford by 18 goals on Sunday.

In a low scoring quarter, both teams struggled to move the ball early with Langwarrin’s defensive pressure causing trouble for Somerville off their centre passes while Langwarrin were unable to transition the ball smoothly from defence into attack.

Goal-for-goal it was Langwarrin who broke away towards the end of the quarter with shooter Brenna Lamb slotting in a goal making the most of a defensive rebound from Amanda Le Marshall with the centre pass then in their favour, the Kangaroos went into the first break ahead by one goal.

Somerville quickly struck at the start of the second quarter, with shooter Maria Neophytou confidently slotting a long bomb off their centre pass. Then strong defensive pressure from Kristy Marshall and Amy Olston caused a held ball in Langwarrin’s goal circle which was then converted into a Somerville goal seeing the Eagles take the lead.

However, the defensive pressure from Langwarrin was just as good with defenders Le Marshall and Rania Waller then causing a held ball in the same fashion as Somerville had a few minutes earlier to swing momentum back their way with shooter Lamb drawing the sides level again and then taking the lead.

From there, Langwarrin were in control for the rest of the second quarter escaping to halftime with a four-goal lead.

The match became more physical in the third quarter as both teams upped the ante, Somerville wing defence Briony Kelly who had been strong for the Eagles was sent off to cool down by an umpire after she slammed the ball and swore at a decision leaving Somerville without a wing defence for a few minutes.

Langwarrin wing attack Madison Fulton capitalised on Somerville being a player down and zipped around the court providing support to her teammates and driving hard to the circle edge to feed in well.

Somerville did their best to maintain pressure while being a player down and to their credit only lost the quarter by one goal, keeping them within striking distance of Langwarrin.

Scoring from their first centre pass of the fourth quarter and then the next passage of play Somerville mounted their comeback.

Centre Jade Finn was outstanding, she drove into space hard, fed the ball into the circle with pinpoint accuracy and turned over the ball multiple times in the final quarter to keep the Eagles in it. Finn’s work was backed up by shooters Courtney Gilmour and Madeline Roberts who confidently turned and nailed the shots when it mattered most putting Somerville ahead.

Langwarrin worked hard and brought themselves back into the match as Somerville slipped up with a few minutes left. With only 20 seconds to go in the fourth quarter scores were level and Somerville had possession, however, Langwarrin were able to delay Somerville’s progression down the court. Hands over pressure from midcourters Zoe Zeuschner and Caitlin O’Shea was particularly good as the Kangaroos ensured the match went into extra time.

In the first five minutes of extra time Somerville centre Finn intercepted the ball and then delivered it safely to the goal circle with Roberts putting them ahead. Langwarrin stayed close to the body and did everything they could to slow Somerville, however, a stray pass resulted in an easy pick up for Eagles wing defence Kelly which then became another goal.

Two goals down at the start of the second period of extra time, Langwarrin regained composure but moved fast to steal the win. The important turnover came from a contact call against Somerville in their goal circle and a strong baseline drive from Lamb brought the Kangaroos back a goal and then another off their centre pass to level the scores. The centre pass, however, was still in favour of the Eagles, however, another contact call went against them in the final minute of play that saw Langwarrin treasure possession and quickly score the goal they needed to get ahead. The centre pass was then their way and after playing a bit of possession netball to waste time Kangaroos shooter Lamb held strong to receive a well-placed feed and nail a long bomb to finish the match two goals ahead of Somerville.

Speaking to Zoe Zeuschner after the match she said she was really happy with the positivity her teammates had throughout the match and the improvements from their shooters.

“I think our voice on court was really good, we talked to each other and kept encouraging each other the whole game which was really good and our shooting percentage was good which is something we’ve struggled with throughout the year so it’s good that it’s finally come out in finals,” she said.

Zeuschner was also proud of the way her team remained calm in extra time.

“We played so well, kept it cool in those last ten minutes and came away with the win so I’m really excited, bring on Karingal next week,” she said.

Thinking ahead to next week, Zeuschner said Langwarrin will need to improve their drives onto the ball.

“We have to improve our passes and driving onto the ball, making sure we’re not stopping, ‘cause in finals it’s anyone’s ball, everything’s contested we just need to make sure we go in hard and follow through with our leads,” she said.

C Grade

A competitive qualifying final between Chelsea and Red Hill saw the Seagulls defeat Red Hill by four goals on Saturday morning.

As a result, Chelsea will now play Karingal in the semi-finals while Red Hill will play Devon Meadows who defeated Crib Point on Sunday by five goals.  

Chelsea started strongly against Red Hill, winning the first quarter by five goals. Defenders Jayde Mason and Tara Maslin were strong in defence applying pressure over the ball to create turnovers which Chelsea’s shooters Sallie Daniels and Rebecca Cameron then converted.

However, the second quarter was even as Red Hill lifted and treasured their possessions better than the first.  Still in the lead by five goals at halftime, Chelsea were challenged by Red Hill in the third quarter.

Red Hill came out after halftime and delivered their strongest quarter of the match. Goal shooter Mikayla Leyonhjelm and goal attack Abbie King both held their space well in the goal circle and were accurate with their shots while wing attack Annie Cumming and centre Lucy Hamill fed the ball in well.

At the final break Chelsea were hanging onto the lead by two goals. The Seagulls worked hard until the final whistle to turn the ball over and make the most of the opportunities that came their way.

Strong drives from shooters Georgia Holland and Cameron provided good targets for Chelsea’s midcourters Kiah Stewart and Daniels to pass to while key intercepts and deflections from Maslin and Mason caused havoc for Red Hill as they tried to score in the final quarter with time running out and Chelsea taking the win.

Speaking to Kiah Stewart after the match she said she was happy with the way her teammates remained positive and battled on throughout the match.

“It was very close, I think (we) did very well, we’ve got quite a few injuries so we only had seven and then a D-grader filling in so to push it out like that was really awesome but Red Hill are a good team and I think we’ll end up playing them again before the series is over,” she said.

Stewart also said that Chelsea know they’ve got a big challenge ahead of them when they go up against Karingal in the semi-finals.

“Karingal is such a strong team they’ve dominated us the two times we played them this season so we’ll have to be on our absolute A game to get over them, they definitely deserve to be here undefeated all year,” Stewart said.

D Grade

Chelsea had a strong win in D Grade defeating Langwarrin by 16 goals.

The win means Chelsea will face Karingal in the semi-finals while Langwarrin will battle Red Hill who defeated Somerville by 15 goals on Sunday.

Chelsea started the match well with their goal shooters Georgia Holland and Samantha Cameron putting up 11 goals to Langwarrin’s five.

The Kangaroos were much better in the second quarter, with shooter Alisha Guest leading the way soring 11 of her side’s 12 goals for the quarter.

Taking advantage of the opportunities that went they’re way kept Langwarrin only four goals behind the Seagulls at halftime.

The defensive work from Chelsea’s defenders Alexandra Wendt, Kate Webster and Megan Thomas in the third quarter put an end to any momentum the Kangaroos were building. Langwarrin only scored three goals while Chelsea powered through adding another 15 goals to their total.

Under 17s

Chelsea won by a landslide in the Under 17s defeating Red Hill by 38 goals.

Chelsea will now take on Seaford in the semi-finals while Red Hill will face Hastings who defeated Devon Meadows (2) by seven goals on Sunday.

A 12-goal to three opening quarter set the Seagulls up well early. They put pressure on Red Hill across the court and were able to convert through shooters Tia Weston and Rebecca Cameron.

Weston and Cameron then shared the load in the second quarter putting up nine goals each to extend their team’s lead, while once again Red Hill were restricted to three goals.

In the third quarter, Red Hill’s Zoe De Koning and Mackenzie Eardley moved around the circle better and scored three goals each, however, it wasn’t enough up against their tough opponents.

Chelsea defenders Madison Marino, Jenna Howe and Claudia Lennox continued to create turnover after turnover for the Seagulls who continued to pass the ball smoothly from one end and into the net.

34 goals down at the final break, Red Hill continued to push through the match scoring another six goals in the final quarter while their defenders Mia Barry, Telsha Walker and Layla McGill did well to keep Chelsea to their lowest quarter score of 10.