The Mininera and District Football League/Netball Association finals get underway this weekend with plenty of local teams in action.
In netball, finals are upon us and the race for the Mininera and District Netball Association (MDNA) premiership heats up.
While Tatyoon is undefeated this season, Penshurst and Ararat will battle it out in the qualifying final and Hawkesdale-Macarthur will take on Lismore-Derrinallum in the elimination final.
The Bombers will go into the clash with an “air of confidence” when they take on Ararat Eagles at Woorndoo today.
The sides have met twice this season with Penshurst recording two wins, the first was a six-goal win in round one, and the most recent meeting saw the red and black dominate the court to win by 21 goals.
Penshurst coach, Sinaed Hasell said her side’s season record against Ararat gave the girls some confidence, but expected a tough game.
“The pressure and hype of finals changes everything and we are prepared for the fact that anything could happen,” she told The Spectator.
“Our biggest focus going into finals, and any particular match, will be us and what we can control, keeping a steady head and being able to grind out a dirty win under pressure are the most important things to us.
“We know what we need to do to win, it’s just a matter of sticking to our systems and not getting caught up in the game.
“Ararat is very good at fighting back when in a tough position, so we will need to keep a calm head if we want to win this game.”
To finish in second position was a big tick for the Bombers and bolstered their chances at winning the flag this season with the second chance, but Hasell didn’t want the side to become complacent.
“Having that safety net is great, but we still have to treat every game as do-or-die, no matter what position we are in,” she said.
“Having another crack at teams like Tatyoon or Hawkesdale (Macarthur) is exciting to us, as we’ve only had the one chance in the season to match up with them.”
The Bombers have lost one match since round three with and at 12-3 for the season, the only games the side has lost were against Tatyoon, Hawkesdale-Macarthur and more recently, Woorndoo-Mortlake.
Hasell felt the side was playing its best netball and along with some great individual form from Leah Mirtschin, the time was now.
“We will be heading in with a full-strength side … (the last few weeks have been) nothing flashy, just everyone knuckling down and doing their job well,” she said.
“(Leah Mirtschin) has really come into her game and is winning a lot of ball for us, while also providing great leadership on the court.
“If we can keep that up over the next four weeks, I have no doubts we can overcome any challenge that is thrown at us.”
Elimination final
HAWKESDALE-MACARTHUR will travel to Lismore tomorrow to battle it out in a do-or-die contest against Lismore-Derrinallum.
This could be anyone’s game with some very interesting previous results; it was the Demons who won back in round seven in a one-goal thriller, 42-41.
However, in the most recent match in round 14, the Eagles won 70-19 in an incredible turnaround from the first encounter.
The stakes don’t get any higher than this, with the losing side to be knocked out of finals and while Hawkesdale-Macarthur will go into the game as the favourite, the Demons’ best netball could see another upset.
The visitors have shown that scoring heavily is one of their main strengths and as a result, the team has a percentage of 166.97, compared to Lismore-Derrinallum’s 89.80.
It will be won and lost in the Eagles’ goal ring as the Demon defenders will desperately try to restrict the scoring power.
Other games
The B grade qualifying final will see Ararat Eagles and Woorndoo-Mortlake face-off, while Hawkesdal-Macarthur and Penshurst will clash in the elimination final.
Saturday’s C grade game includes Tatyoon and Ararat Eagles, while Lismore-Derrinallum and Glenthompson-Dunkeld face-off in the elimination final.
Penshurst v Moyston-Willaura and Caramut v Hawkesdale-Macarthur are the 17-and-Under qualifying and elimination finals.
Hawkesdale-Macarthur and Wickliffe-Lake Bolac battle in the 15-and-Under qualifying final, while the Hawks and Demons face-off in the elimination final.
Penshurst and Caramut will match-up in the 13-and-Under qualifier, while the Rams and Tigers face-off in the elimination final.
In football, Glenthompson-Dunkeld will take on Woorndoo-Mortlake tomorrow at Lismore Recreation Reserve in the Mininera and District Football League (MDFL) elimination final.
The Rams are hungry for success and despite going down by 30 points in the only game the sides have played against each other this season, they are excited for the challenge.
The Tigers have been a strong side all season, dropping just four games and sit a win clear in fourth position with a percentage of 237.94, but that guarantees nothing.
Rams coach, Simon Hatherell said there had been a bit of a “buzz” around the club in the week leading up to the elimination final against “dark horse”, Woorndoo-Mortlake.
“We had great numbers on the training track Tuesday night, the most we’ve had all year, you could tell the playing group had a bit of a pep in their step,” he told The Spectator.
“They (Woorndoo-Mortlake) are a good side; they were the premiers last year in the COVID year and have got a very similar side to that still.
“I think some people may be underestimating them, handy forward line with the likes of (Grant) Cameron and (Jordan) Buckley, strong on ball division with the Pemberton boys.”
While finals like this bring a different level of pressure, the Rams side was no stranger to high pressure games, having to win its final four games to claim fifth spot on the ladder.
“We’ve been playing an elimination final every game for the last month, any game we lost against Penshurst, Lake Bolac, SMW Rovers or Moyston (Willaura), we were done,” Hatherell said.
“This week is just another week in a way, if we win, we survive and if we lose in the seniors, we know we are done.
“We had a really good game against Penshurst two weeks ago with high pressure for the whole game, it will be very similar to that, our boys will be prepared to know what’s coming.”
The last couple seasons have been positive for Glenthompson-Dunkeld, but the club is chasing some silverware to show for the hard work.
Finishing fourth last season, the Rams’ elimination final didn’t go ahead due to COVID, however this season is the club’s chance to make amends.
“We finished fifth, we didn’t beat Woorndoo (Mortlake) during the year, we are the underdogs, that means we’ve got a licence to play with freedom,” Hatherell said.
“(Our focus is on) executing our plan, we will do a few match ups on what we need, it’s about executing our game style that we’ve been putting in place for three years … when we’ve executed well, we’ve had very good success.
The coach said that the senior players would continue to lead from the front as they had all season setting the tone in the high-pressure finals atmosphere.
“Tyler Staude has been wonderful, Mitchell Johnson has had a great second half of the year, as well as Tyler Fehsler, Alex Richardson and Andrew Lowe have all been great,” Hatherell said.
“To give these guys a lot of credit, they’ve led from the front all year.”
Qualifying final
TATYOON will take on Lismore-Derrinallum at Woorndoo Rec Reserve today, and the Hawks are eyeing off a big clash against Ararat Eagles next week who finished the home and away season undefeated.
While the Hawks will go into the match as favourites, the Demons have shown they can cause real problems for some of the best sides in the competition on their day and could be dangerous if they are on their game.
The result was 19 points in favour of Tatyoon when the two sides met back in round nine, however the scoreboard flattered the Demons, who had almost half as many scoring shots for the game, poor kicking cost the Hawks a massive win.
Tatyoon forward, Ben Clay has kicked 66 goals this season including five against Lismore-Derrinallum last time and will be hungry for a big bag.
At the other end, Riley Browne has had a standout year for the Dees finding having kicked seven goals or more in almost half of his matches.
It will be a tightly contested game of footy with the Hawks likely to run away in the second half, unless Michael Lockyer can inspire his side to cause a big upset.
Other games
LISMORE-DERRINALLUM and Glenthompson-Dunkeld will face-off in the reserves qualifying final, while Ararat Eagles and SMW Rovers will contest the elimination final.
Caramut and Tatyoon will play off in the Under-16.5 qualifying final, with Moyston-Willaura and Hawkesdale-Macarthur set for the elimination final.
