Sport
GVL ǀ Gallery ǀ Murray Bombers clinch 17-and-under flag with determined win over Mooroopna
A determined and prolific Echuca 17-and-under netball side has fended off a hungry Mooroopna outfit to secure the club’s second Goulburn Valley League premiership in three seasons with a 46-37 triumph.
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A fast start on the sun-baked Deakin Reserve courts on Sunday had the girls in bottle green five goals to the good early, as the Murray Bombers’ mid-court duo of Halle Gray and Milly Ross went to work with some clean midfield mastery.
But a resilient Mooroopna outfit, led by skipper and shooter Eliza Gesler, ensured the Cats wouldn’t go down without a fight with a quick-fire five straight goals
Echuca co-coaches Kristine Oliver and Greta Pearson said they were fully expecting Mooroopna to come out firing, with Bree Hanslow’s side intent on ending its 36-year netball premiership drought.
“We knew Mooroopna would come at us. In a final too, no-one lies down in a final,” Pearson said.
“We said that to the girls at every break, they won’t lie down and they’re going to come back, but when they did we were able to hold them off.”
Echuca carried a hard-fought seven-goal lead into the first break, but the second quarter was when both sides truly came alive.
The Murray Bombers took the court after the first change and looked to kill the game off with three quick goals that pushed the margin out to a game-high 10 goals.
But the Cats, as they have done all season, fought back against the odds and piled on eight goals straight to trim the margin to just three.
As the Cats looked to get a run-on, coaches Pearson and Oliver looked to their defensive duo of Lilli Oliver and Raina Fimmel to steady the ship.
Fimmel’s defensive performance saw her walk away with the best-on-court medal.
“We’ve focused on our defensive pressure all year, it’s probably been our secret weapon,” Oliver said.
“When the going gets tough they clear out, and every single player does their job and shuts them down and I think that was clear today.”
Pearson said the side’s pressure all across the court helped its defenders do their jobs to full effect.
“Our all over court defence has been the goal and that’s what’s won us the ball,” she said.
“It makes Raina and Lilli look good. They do the hard yards, but everyone out in front, we need those girls to bring the pressure, which they did today.”
Echuca did enough to keep the Cats at bay in the second stanza, hanging on to a narrow four-goal lead at half-time.
With the premiership on the line, Echuca’s shooters Jorja Oliver and Holly Chadwick grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck after the main change, slotting four straight to get the Bombers out to another handy four-goal buffer.
Mooroopna’s goals dried up thanks to the incessant Echuca defensive pressure, and with Oliver shooting her side to glory, the Murray Bombers took the game away from the Cats piece by piece.
“It was a real team effort today. Jorjy (Oliver) shot really well and only missed a couple, but as we’ve said, if the work isn’t done through the mid-court it doesn’t make the other girls look good,” Oliver said.
Oliver and Pearson celebrated their first premiership as coaches and said after a long three years the group couldn’t be more deserving of its grand final triumph.
“This group of girls have played together since under-12s basketball and netball,” Oliver said.
“They’ve got that relationship on and off the court. That’s why we’re super proud — they work really hard at training, they give everything, they support each other and back each other, which is just awesome.”