General News
28 August, 2019
Tiger netballers advance to second semi
WOORNDOO Mortlake’s A grade netball side is shaping up for a crack at progressing to a fifth consecutive Mininera and District grand final this weekend.
WOORNDOO Mortlake’s A grade netball side is shaping up for a crack at progressing to a fifth consecutive Mininera and District grand final this weekend.
The Tigers are readying themselves for a second semi-final showdown with Glenthompson Dunkeld after accounting for Tatyoon 48-43 in the qualifying final last Saturday.
Coach Georgia McCormick was pleased with her side’s performance against the Hawks.
“We started off really well but in the second half of the first quarter they came back a bit and were one goal in front at quarter time I think,” she said.
“But from the second quarter we got back in front and then stayed in front so that was really positive.”
McCormick revealed her side was eager to test itself against the competition’s pacesetter at Ararat this weekend.
The Tigers and Rams have met twice this season, with Glenthompson Dunkeld recording 28 and 24 goal victories in rounds 11 and 18.
McCormick conceded Glenthompson Dunkeld would be “very confident” entering the clash on the back of those results, but said the Tigers were determined to produce a better performance in its quest to add a fourth straight premiership.
“I think we were all very disappointed with how we’ve played against them and we’ve spoken as a team about going out there and showing we can match it with them,” she said.
“We’re obviously excited to have another game against ‘Glen’ considering the two scorelines we’ve already had against them.
“We don’t really have anything to lose with the double chance, and with finals the pressure is obviously greater, so we’d like to go out there and put a lot of pressure on them.
“I think if we start well and put that pressure on we’ll be a good chance of winning.”
McCormick said Glenthompson Dunkeld’s ball movement posed a key threat for her side ahead of the contest.
She said the Rams “move the ball really quickly” from one end to the other, creating multiple opportunities in their attacking end.
“That kind of hurt us last time, they were very, very quick out of defence,” she said.
“And in the goal circle, their goal shooter was a really good rebounder, she wasn’t necessarily accurate but was good at getting the ball back so we need to work on that.”
On the flip side, McCormick said the Tigers would be looking to “stay composed” when they are in possession of the ball.
“When we play our own style and are composed with the ball that’s when we play our best netball,” she said.
“We also don’t want to be too conservative in defence, we’ve been working on trying to play a more attacking style of defence.
“We want to go for those intercepts and we need to make it a bit more disruptive for them.”
Meanwhile, the season came to an end for the B grade side after it went down 42-40 to Great Western in the elimination final.
The news was better for C grade, who won its qualifying final against Great Western 22-18 to set up a second semi-final clash with Penshurst.
The 15 and under side’s 2019 campaign also wound up after the Tigers went down to Wickliffe-Lake Bolac 22-21.