PORTLAND came away with something to celebrate at Sunday’s Hampden Football Netball League vote count, with division two netballer Tamika Holt taking out best and fairest honours for the 2023 season.

Holt, who was a prominent figure under the post for the Tigers this season, amassed a whopping 32 votes, a full 11 votes ahead of the runners-up.

Teammate Jenna Domburg was able to celebrate alongside her long-time teammate, as she was one of the two players who claimed the joint runner-up award for the division with 21 votes.

Holt said the award came as a bit of a surprise but that she’s “chuffed” to have taken it out.

“I’m very proud of what this team was able to accomplish as a whole… we all gelled very well together,” she said.

“We’ve got a mixture of older girls and younger girls which I think was a really nice balance, it was a shame we couldn’t go further in finals, but we still had a great year.”

Holt heaped praise on Domburg who she said was a great player to work with in the front court.

“Jenna is someone who I’ve played a lot of netball with, we work very well together and I’m happy she’s been able to receive some recognition for her efforts.”

The Tigers finished up in second place on the ladder, narrowly missing out on the minor premiership by just two ladder points.

However, Portland faltered somewhat in the finals, losing by nine goals in the qualifying final to Hamilton Kangaroos, before being comfortably defeated by Koroit in the following week’s semi-final.

Still, the Tigers will take some solace in the fact that both sides who they fell to proceeded to march to the grand final, and that this season can serve as a building block towards future success.

Holt said she plans on being back in the fold for the 2024 season, adding that the goal will be to help the team make an even deeper run into the finals.

In the other grades, Open grade captain Remy Grant was Portland’s top vote-getter with 10 votes, placing her equal-11th, while Heidi Jones followed close behind with nine.

In division one, Jess Cook finished with 15 votes to be the Tigers’ highest placer in equal-ninth, while Angela Wiseman’s eight votes saw her take top place for Portland in equal-22nd.