Blues bow out...but not without a battle
Wednesday August 18, 2010
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Cobar Blues coach and A Grade’s Goal Defence Amie Jacklin (centre) fighting for the ball in Saturday’s Northern Riverina League netball final at West Wyalong.
The Cobar Blues A and B Grade netball teams’ season came to an end on Saturday when both sides were beaten in their finals games of the Northern Riverina League competition at West Wyalong.
Both teams put up great battles in their very physical matches with A Grade just pipped by one point for a grand final berth by Lake Cargelligo and the Blues B Graders also narrowly missed out on defending their 2009 B Grade title after they lost to Barellan by four goals.
Both games were contested in very windy conditions and all teams had to adjust their style of play to compensate for it.
Coach Amie Jacklin had prepared both of the Cobar sides well for the finals after studying the oppositions’ game plans intently.
The Cobar sides however were not prepared for the level of determination shown by both Barellan and Lake Cargelligo to win.
The Lake Cargelligo A Graders came into Saturday’s final looking to make amends for their loss to Cobar when they met just three weeks ago in the final round of the competition which was played in Cobar.
In that match Cobar grabbed the lead from the outset and played a faultless game to easily beat Lake 61-46.
Lake however didn’t let Cobar get the better of them in Saturday’s final and matched them goal for goal from the outset of the game.
The Blues side did a great job in shutting down the centre court and time and again Lake were forced to alter their game plan in order to get the ball to their shooters.
Blues’ defenders Jacklin (at Goal Defence) and Venessa Kurta (Goal Keeper) worked very well to contain Lake’s shooters, however both Lake players were in stunning form and rarely missed their shots at goal.
The score was 9-all at the end of the first quarter and then Cobar sneaked ahead to lead 17-14 at the half time break.
Lake fought back and took a one goal lead at three-quarter time and, after a very tense final quarter in which both sides gave it their all, Lake still had a one goal advantage (33-32) when the full time siren blew.
The B Grade match was also a tight game throughout and it wasn’t until the final minutes that Barellan pulled ahead to win.
Cobar matched their Barellan opposition right across the court and kept the scores locked at 4-all at the first break and 8-all at half time.
A turning point in the game came midway in the third quarter following a knee injury which saw Barellan’s Goal Keeper leave the court.
The Cobar side surged ahead and took a two goals lead which was, however, short-lived when Cobar shooter Briana Francisco suffered an ankle injury and also left the court.
Nicola Harbison subbed back on and Cobar finished the quarter with a narrow 14-13 lead.
The Cobar side, keen to move on to the grand final, unfortunately forced play in the final quarter and a number of wild passes and too many penalties cost them the game.
The Blues sides will now take a long, well-earned rest before training commences for the 2011 competition.
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