Premiers and champions: Girgarre’s 13-and-under team, coached by Sheree Starling (far right) was made up of (from back left) Regan Scoble, Lily Camin, Jaida Miller, Jorji Dedini, Sophie McDonald, Katelyn Munro; (front) Skye McKiernan, Gemma Tomasini, Kade Starling and Tayla Starlnig.
Grand finals have a habit of throwing curve balls at premiership favourites and, quite often, season-long domination of a competition counts for very little.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
In the initial stages of Saturday’s Kyabram District League’s 13-and-under netball grand final, that appeared to be the case for the unbeaten Girgarre team.
Only two weeks before the weekend’s grand final the Sheree Starling-coached Kangaroos had beaten its opponent in the season decider by 36 goals.
It was, however, a different Nagambie that started the game on the Mooroopna court on Saturday.
By quarter-time, the Lakers had already scored three more goals than managed for the entirety of the last meeting between the teams.
At the first change, Girgarre trailed by a goal, its vice-captain Sophie McDonald was forced from the court after an early incident in the game and an upset was brewing.
That is, however, where the potential demise of the Kangaroos ended and it spent the next three quarters amassing 28 goals to seven and won the match by 20 goals — 35-15.
It was testament to the character of the team that they managed to shake off what was a challenging first quarter to re-gather their momentum and charge to victory.
McDonald came back onto the court and eventually forced her early nemesis, Nagambie skipper Abbey Whittaker, into defence in an attempt to stop the Girgarre landslide.
In your face: Sophie McDonald is at full extension in defence against her Nagambie opposition. She faced some early challenges, but recover to be one of her team’s major contributors.
Jaida Miller was the rock of the Girgarre defence, she and goal shooter Regan Scoble were the only two players in the premiership team to stay in their positions for the entire four quarters.
Scoble shot 18 goals for the game, while an eight-goal third term from Jorji Dedini was a highlight of her match.
After trailing by a goal at the first break, a 10-2 second term was followed by a 14-3 third term — setting up the victory.
Sheree Starling watched from the sidelines as a dour finish to the game saw just six goals scored in the final term as both teams tired in the unusually hot conditions.
The Girgarre coach, who had also guided the A-grade team into the finals this season, used nine of her squad during the game in response to the warm day.
Over the top: Regan Scoble asks his teammate to lob the ball over the head of his opponent in a familiar pose from the grand final.
On the rebound: Scoble was often the first to get his hands on the ball if he or his goaling partners were inaccurate.
Athletic goaler Scoble worked in tandem with Jorji Dedini for most of the game, intermittent use of the versatile Tayla Starling in goals another of the highlights.
Starling, the sister of best on court and team captain Kade, played in the mid-court, attack, defence and on a wing in an impressive four quarter display.
Her ‘’energiser bunny’’ brother started on a wing before moving into the centre and spent the entire game plotting the team’s path to a premiers and champions title.
Katelyn Munro worked in tandem with the Starlings in the mid-court, while Lily Camin and Skye McKiernan also had time in the winger’s role.
Gema Tomasini was the other member of the squad that ended the season with an unblemished record and the 13-and-under KDL title.
12°C