A slow start by Kyabram’s third-ranked Under 17 Goulburn Valley league netball team cost it the opportunity of improving on its status, as the competition reaches the pointy end of the season.
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Pitted against second-ranked Shepparton, Kyabram trailed by nine goals at quarter time and by 16 at the long break, before swinging into action to be outscored by just one goal in the second half.
The damage, however, had been done, and the Bombers lost the match 59-42 on the back of that 37-21 half-time deficit.
Natasha Dodos shot 15 goals in the opening half, working in tandem with Isla Carver, before best-on-court Carver was required to use her athleticism and speed in the mid-court.
Her move to centre, along with the change of Abby Waasdorp to wing attack, Jemae Miller from defence to attack and Taytem Messenger into goals, put the team back on track.
Kyabram used nine of its 10 players in the match, only goal keeper Stella Trezise and Dodos remaining in the same position for the entire four quarters.
Trezise and Messenger were stars in the second half, as they restricted a dominant first-half Shepparton goaling partnership to just 10 final-term goals.
After playing a full game in three different positions at Under 15 level, Ava Pell spent a half at wing attack for the Under 17 team.
Kyabram still has a match-up with top-of-the-ladder Mooroopna, in a fortnight, but in its other three games plays the three teams that occupy positions 10 to 12 on the ladder: bottom team Tatura this weekend, then Euroa and finally 10th-ranked Benalla.
If results go their way they could still claim the coveted double chance that comes with finishing the home and away season as one of the top two teams.
• Facing the unbeaten leader leader Shepparton was too tough a task for the high-performing Kyabram Under 15 team, which remains sixth on the ladder with four rounds of the season remaining.
Shepparton, which has a miserly defence, won 66-33 after setting up a 30-18 half-time lead.
It maintained the momentum in the second half, as Kyabram defenders Grace Kilpatrick and Isabella Pate did their best to stem the tide.
While Kilpatrick spent the entire match in defence, Pate moved to the opposite end of the court in the second half and finished with five goals.
Captain Ava Pell was required in several different positions. She started at goal attack, before moving into the centre and ended up at wing defence in an attempt to stop the dominant Shepparton team.
Ella Hooper spent the second half in defence, while Hannah Messenger finished the match with 22 goals as the best of the attacking players.
Rachael Polvere moved from wing attack to centre late in the match and was also one of the stronger performing Kyabram players.
• A seven-goal loss by Kyabram’s B Reserve team has it sitting one win outside the top six and with its finals destiny in its own hands.
It lost 34-41 to sixth-ranked Shepparton, but remains only one win behind fifth-ranked Rochester and the Bears.
Kyabram has only one match against a team above it on the ladder in the last four weeks of the season, with fourth-ranked Mooroopna, but will need to win all remaining three games, against Tatura (bottom), Euroa (ninth) and Benalla (11th), to qualify for the finals.
Fortunately Shepparton faces two of the top three teams in its final four games, Seymour and Shepparton Swans, making its task a little bit more difficult than the Bombers’.
Kyabram had the better of its opponent in only one of the four quarters on Saturday, shooting 15 goals to eight on the back of Eliza Linehan and Molly Carver’s good work.
Linehan and Carver both finished with 17 goals for the game, but a 6-11 opening term and a 4-12 third quarter made the task impossible for Kyabram.
Kyabram’s three defensive players, winger Jorja Wilson, goal keeper Courtney Mason and defence Tori Walsh, were the Bombers’ best in the loss.
• Shepparton’s third-ranked B grade outfit dominated Kyabram for three quarters of their match at Deakin Reserve, before the Bombers responded with their best quarter in the last.
Micaela Herbert had her best quarter, shooting eight of her 26 goals in the final term, while Rachael McCormack was responsible for the remaining eight goals in the 34-64 defeat.
Georgia Poole was the standout for Kyabram in the mid-court, while winger Caitie Minger offered constant support to defender Alexandra Hall in the back end.
• Kyabram’s A grade team has a difficult end to a tough season ahead of it, as it prepares to face three of the top five teams in its final four home and away games.
This weekend the Bombers face fifth-ranked Tatura, then have top-of-the-ladder Moooropna, before facing third-ranked Euroa and — finally — receive some respite in the form of 11th-ranked Benalla in the last match of the year.
On Saturday at Deakin Reserve the team started well against top-six team Shepparton, down by just six goals at quarter time after stand-in goalers Micaela Herbert and Isla Carver both shot five goals.
It was the first game this season Herbert and Carver had combined at the top level in goals and they struggled in the second term against quality opposition. Kyabram managed only seven second-quarter goals and trailed by 21 goals before losing the match 38-70.
Carver lifted significantly in the second half and finished among the team’s best with 15 second-half goals from goal attack. Sarah Carr partnered her and shot six goals.
Hollie Reid, as she does every game, led from the front in the mid-court and Jemma Hall continued her consistent season in defence.
• Kyabram Football Netball Club will host its Ladies Day event on Saturday, August 19 — the club’s final home game of the season — on the Wilf Cox Balcony and in the corporate box.
The three-hour food and cocktail package operates from 3pm to 6pm ($60) and there is also a $30 option, which includes a drink on arrival, food and entertainment
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