The Mecca of Netball in SA and home to the Thunderbirds, Netball Stadium SA, was the scene for Monday’s Grand Final tournament for our Year 9 knockout team. Ms Whitton and the students certainly came to play and got off to a flying start, winning both their Round-Robin games with ease and advancing to the semi-final where their first real challenge awaited them. Kildare showed poise and confidence under immense pressure from their Kapunda opponents to win and advance through to the Grand Final.
The Grand Final saw our Kildare team come up against a very impressive Keith outfit. Like us, Keith advanced through to the final games with relative ease. It was bound to be a blockbuster game!
Keith were red hot from the very first centre pass and capitalised on a few nervous errors made by our Kildare team, to gain an early advantage. The players rallied hard in the second quarter to cut the early deficit back to within 2 goals at the half time break.
Unfortunately though, our recent injury curse filtered through to our Netballers, and one of our defender’s game was over early in the third quarter, due to a high ankle sprain. This injury unfortunately zapped all of our momentum, and the team were unable to recover and chase down the lead their opponents maintained until the very final bell of the game.
It was an enormous effort by our team to persist and show vigour and determination all the way until the very end. It was a match that really could have gone either way, and unfortunately it went their way this time. The team should be extremely proud of their performance, not just in the final game, but throughout the whole day.
Our team Medic, Zariah Sideris, had this account of the day:
“The Year 8/9 players showed great perseverance and dedication throughout all 4 games played today.
Game 1 against Loreto College: The team came out strong to secure a win first up, 6 goals to 0 at the start. Strong rebounds from both shooters and defenders, while continuously using communication skills from either side of the court. The team excelled in creating opportunities for the goal shooters to score, with Josyln Field shooting from various positions in the ring. Kildare pulled out the win 27-7.
Game 2 against Samaritan College: The players continued their quick and intense movement from either side of the court, while creating large spaces for leading passes. Charli Hazelhurst encouraged the team throughout, with loud calling to support the team with plays, taking on the captain role. The team played well to come out with the win 28-16 ready for the semi-finals.
Game 3 the semi-finals against Kapunda High School: Kildare came out strong, with quick early movement from the first centre pass. Great shooting and movement in the ring by Lily Sparkhall, confusing the opposition defenders. The game was very close but the girls fought hard to keep their lead for the entire game-winning 38-30.
Game 4 the finals against Keith High School: The team worked extremely hard this game and unfortunately were not able to bring home the gold but the girls played intensely and strong throughout the day. Well done everyone!”
Carmine Caruso
Sports Development Officer
