MATCH REPORTS

Westgambierveastgambier

Reigningpremiers West Gambiermake a habit of starng strongly and the weekend was no excepon when their 18-8 opening quarter set a tone for the RoosclashwithEastGambier

And the task for the Bulldogs wasn’t made any easier without star defender BoCreekavailable.

That saw Morgan Amy move out to goal defence and Sharna McKinnon tale the goal keeper bib as the new look duo looked to stem one of the most prolific s c o r i n g c o m b i n a o n s i n t h e compeon.

WestshooterSarahRier,freshfromher s e l e c o n i n t h e S A C o u n t r y Championships Top 10, need 15 from 17 in a stunning opening quarter performance and she backed that up with 16 from 19 in the second and 12 from 14 in the third, before the tough condions made for more difficult conversioninthefinalstanza.

It wasn’t just the opening quarter that the Roos dominated, with the half me advantage sing at 20 and the three quarter me buffer extending to 28 but East did salvage something with a final quarter win to trim the final margin to 21.

Of course it wasn’t just the dominant shoong performance of Rier courtesy of some outstanding delivery from Lisa McGregor,itwasalsothehardrunningof Tara Bryant, who dominated the mid court with her sweeping drives and accuratefeeding,aswellasthedefensive pressure for which the reigning champs havemadeatrademark.

East basically had way fewer scoring opportunies than the Roos as Bryant and Zoe Malseed pressured the East feeders and Amy Cram and Jade Rier denied East goalers Renee Henke and CaseyHorrigananyeasyball.

Both East goalers made the most of their limited opportunies but when team generates 75 opportunies and their opponentsonly54,themarginisgoingto behey.

Henke had a perfect opening quarter with seven from seven, while Horrigan came into her own in the final quarter as she found space and need nine from 12.

Eliza Cole, a new face in the East line-up for 2023, has started to make the wing defence role her own and she was again inEast’sbest.

Millicentvnorthgambier

Last me Millicent and North Gambier faced off, the Tigers held on for a two goal victory but at the weekend, Millicent had done their homework and reversed that result to secure a 57-42 homecourtwin.

Theopeninghalfwasanarmwrestleand even at three quarter me, the seven goal deficit for the Tigers was not necessarily insurmountable but the Saints dominated the final quarter to turn that seven goal lead into a 15 goal finalmargin.

Despite the tough condions, both sides got value for money from their shoong combinaons – Millicent’s Tabatha Sanderson and Demi Verbena neng 57 from 68 and North’s Macey Griffith and GracePosconverng42from52.

Everymatchupwasworththeentryfee.

Saints shooter Tabatha Sanderson was again prolific under the post but young defender Stella Mobbs certainly didn’t letthepremiershipgoalerhavethingsall herownway Demi Verbena, who was arguably best on court with her accurate finishing, pinpoint passing to Sanderson and ability to find space thanks to her speed andming,sllearnteveryballthanksto theghtcheckingofNoniMcConnell.

Two of the compeon’s rising talents –Millicent’s Daisy Tunkin and North’s Lauran Norman baled hard all day while, experienced Tiger Mel Renko and young gun Lillie Paul both had an influencefortheirrespecvesides.

The other mid court bale between Saints superstar Lisa Duldig and reigning Shirley Underwood Medallist Brianna Walters was intriguing as both played cricalrolesfortheirteams.

Macey Griffith (North) and Lauren van Eeden were team mates at the recent SA Country Championships, represenng Western Border in the 17 & under compeon, but the young duo were fierce opponents on the weekend as Griffith played her usual role of feeding GracePosandVanEedenplayedoneof herbestgamesinthetopgrade,creang plentyofturnoverball.

PosandherclashwithSaintsyounggun PoraMcRaewasalsopivotal,withPos again finishing accurately but McRae doing just enough to limit the scoring opportunies.

South Gambier V C A S T E R T O N Sandford

SouthGambiersecureditssecondwinof the season when it hosted Casterton Sandford in less than ideal condions for qualitynetball.

The win was set up in the opening quarter when the Demons flew out of the blocks, seng up an eight goal lead and in the end, while the remainder of the match was an arm wrestle, the cats just couldn’t make inroads and succumbed41-32.

Gracie Dalton was the focal point in the opening quarter and need 11 from 14 as the teenager stood up under the pressure from Cats defenders Ebany JarradandCaeleighHumphries.

At the other end, the defensive pressure from Tully McShane, Ellie Bouchier and Sophie Wight limited the scoring opportuniesforIvyLaneandMadalene Cleary and were it not for Lane’s perfect five from five, the scoreline may well have been more damaging at that first change.

Dalton was again prominent in the second but as the condions deteriorated so did the shoong accuracy and all four goalers struggled in thetoughwindandrain.

Itwasaninegoalgameatthemainbreak and South looked to change thing sup withRubyRichtermovingtogoalkeeper, Wight into the centre and Megan Reid to theaackingwing.

The changes neither unseled the Demons or made a huge change to the ebbs and flow of the match and at the finalchangeitwasa10goalgame.

On the back of some strong finishing from Cleary and Lane, the cats won the final quarter by one but the first quarter damage remained and South took the pointswithaninegoalwin.

Bouchier, who moved from her usual defensive post into the centre for the final quarter, was the Demons’ best, while Richter had an impact both on the aackingwingandingoalkeeper Humphries and her ability to create turnover ball saw her named the Cats best, while Madeline Paon backed up a strong performance in the 17 & under match with another hard running and error-free effort in A Grade to also be in theCats’best.