NETBALL REVIEW

By Matt Fotia

Wandin keep the pressure on Narre Warren, Doveton pull level with the Pakenham Lions and Yea are on track for an invincible season.

All this and more in the Netball Review.

Wandin are now level on points with fifth placed Narre Warren after they defeated Berwick by 11 goals on Saturday at Edwin Flack Reserve.

The Dogs blew the Wickers out of the water in the second and third quarters, out scoring their hosts 23 -12 in that time period, with Cassidy Iedema (28 Goals) and Tash Sinclair keeping control of both goal circles. Emma Clarke shot 19 goals in vain for Berwick.

The win not only puts the Dogs well and truly in the race for the final five, it has also more or less ruled Berwick out of the reckoning for September action.

Like their peers on the football field this next month will dictate whether or not Wandin are competing come the finals, as they take on 4th, 2nd, 3rd and 5th in their next four fixtures. They grabbed just one win in the corresponding fixtures earlier in the season.

Berwick can now turn their focus to 2020 and beyond with an eye for growth and development amongst their list. The Wickers have a strong junior sector which will no doubt help this process.

The other A Grade fixtures saw Beaconsfield lose just their second game of the season to Cranbourne 23-33, Narre Warren fell 26 goals short of ladder leaders Olinda Ferny Creek , whilst Upwey-Tecoma ran out 14 goal winners over Healesville.

Doveton have climbed into equal third on the Division One ladder after they defeated Warburton Millgrove by 12 goals on Saturday, 38-26.

The win saw Doveton complete a 33 goal turnaround against the Burras, after their round two encounter saw Warburton Millgrove win 55-34. The four quarter performance saw Doveton gradually pull away from the Burras, with 10 goal second and fourth quarters the icing on the cake.

Melanie Hancock shot 21 goals for the visitors whilst Itagia Amataga (21) and Emily Pupuke (17) combined well for the Doves.

Doveton now enter their crucial clash with the Pakenham Lions in very good form having won three of their past four games. They’ve tightened up their defensive end of the court after they started the season with two 50+ scores against. Only ROC have scored over 40 goals since round two.

The Burras remain just one game outside of the top five due to Monbulk’s loss to Mount Evelyn (28-36), but have a massive game this weekend against Belgrave, who pulled level on 12 points after their win (47-33) over Emerald.  Warburton Millgrove have not won since round five and need to snap this losing streak or else their season could be slipping away.

The other Division One game saw ROC maintain their undefeated season with a 40-23 victory over Pakenham Lions.

Yea are now well and truly on target for an unblemished season as their victory over Kinglake (44-37) has seen them defeat their two most likely challengers in as many weeks.

The only thing stopping the 2018 premier from going back to back seems to be complacency as yet another side was unable to go with the Tigers for the entire four quarters.

For the second game in a row the Tigers trailed at halftime before overcoming their opponent in the last two quarters, with a 27-19 second half enough to overturn the Lakers in the second grand final rematch for season 2019.

Melissa Martinov finished up with 32 goals for the day whilst Petra Keogh and Megan Leatham kept Kinglake’s prized goal shooter Billie Cvijetic to just 11 goals for the afternoon.

 

Kinglake must now make sure they don’t slip up against Yarra Glen after this weekends bye, as a loss could open them up to a possible elimination final rather than the safety of the double chance. Whilst Kinglake should have enough talent to beat anyone outside of the top three, finals can do things to a side and crazier things have happened.

The other two games in Division Two on the weekend saw Gembrook-Cockatoo go down to Yarra Glen 20-59 whilst Seville won convincingly over Powelltown 63-16.