Bombers sneak into netball finals

Kyabram finished sixth with eight wins for the season.

Despite losing to highly-ranked Shepparton in the final weekend of home and away competition the Bombers were able to win a place in this weekend’s knockout round of finals on the back of Rochester beating seventh ranked Shepparton United.

The team now faces a big challenge against third-ranked Shepparton Swans, but showed enough in the second half of the game on the weekend to suggest it is not without hope in the finals series.

Shepparton won an entertaining game 64-45 after leading by four at quarter-time and by 10 at the main break.

Rose Cunningham and Jemae Miller then worked hard to keep in touch with their quality opposition by shooting 24 second-half goals.

Ava Pell was again outstanding in the midcourt as Stella Trezise and Grace Burnett battled gamefully against highly rated opposition.

· A brave first half from Kyabram’s A-grade team was cancelled out by a one-sided second half when finals-bound Shepparton outscored the Bombers by 24 goals to win the game 61-32.

Steph Higgins worked hard in defence with Jemma Hall, while at the opposite end Natasha Dodos shot 19 goals in three quarters and had support from midcourt star Abby Waasdorp.

· Nine final-quarter goals from Ella Hooper and a second half which saw the Bombers outscored by just three goals was a pointer to a positive 2025 for the under-15 team.

Hooper shot all 13 of the Bombers first-half goals and finished with 25 for the game in in the 45-31 defeat.

Mia Stockdale, Ruby Baker and Jenna Quattrocchi were the pick of the players for the Kyabram team, which finished strongly on the back of strong defensive work.

· Thirty-two goals from outstanding B-grade goaler Micaela Herbert was a feature of a 28-goal final-round loss for her team.

Herbert shot 19 goals in a first half where the Bombers trailed the Bears by just seven goals. After the major break, however, the Bears shot 36 goals to 15 despite the strong opposition of Molly Carver and Hannah Newman.

-A strong showing by the B-reserve team in the opening quarter was cancelled out by a dominant three quarters by the highly ranked Bears that saw them eventually win by 35 goals.

The 57-22 result came after Kyabram trailed by one goal at quarter-time, on the back of nine first quarter goals from Abbey Watson.

Tearna Filbey and Sharni Clark had a lot to do in defence and captain Rachel McCormack spent time in attack and the midcourt in a bid to stem the tide.

Kyabram scored 11 goals in the final three quarters as the Bears stepped up their game in the run to the finals.