Well done to Macleod A, Diamond Creek Blue, South Morang B, St Mary’s B and Hurstbridge on their success last week and the best of luck to all these teams.
Commiserations to Macleod B, Lakeside, Fitzroy Stars A, North Heidelberg C and Mernda. You fought the good fight and I along with the many supporters that came to watch you play look forward to seeing you again in the 2013 season.
In Section 1 Macleod went in as the red-hot favorite to progress through to the Grand Final and certainly didn’t disappoint.
Perhaps a little fiery from their last encounter with Diamond Creek, Macleod came out of the gates strongly.
To Lakeside’s credit, it kept in toe with Macleod but struggled to match the run and rebound of the girls in blue and yellow, with the final score 35-25 in Macleod’s favour. It sets up a showcase Grand Final in the top flight.
It was quite the reverse for Macleod in Section 2 as it went down to a Diamond Creek Blue side that was ruthless all night. Diamond Creek ran rampant in the 14-goal win as it bundled its opponent out of the finals in straight sets.
South Morang B just snuck over the line against Fitzroy Stars A – winning by three goals. It was a fine performance by both squads and it was good to see such great support for both teams from the sidelines. South Morang will now take on Mernda Red in the Grand Final.
The Section 4 preliminary final proved to be the most interesting game of the night. In a see-sawing affair that went goal for goal, it was St Mary’s B who prevailed to cement their spot in the grand final next week – but not before some drama.
Scores were level when the final whistle blew and remained locked at the end of overtime. It then went into double overtime where the first team to reach a two-goal lead would claim a Grand Final spot. As it was, St Mary’s was that side in a game that will spoken about for years.
In Section 5, Hurstbridge got the chocolates, winning by two goals against Mernda. Both teams sported good defense in a low-scoring game, as the Bridges progressed to set up a clash with first-placed Heidelberg Hawkettes.
Congratulations to all teams. Good luck for the grand final this week. I look forward to Friday night.
