A Cap of Last Week’s Results
With the absence of players who had Basketball commitments last weekend. The match between Portland and Koroit was a close contest. Koroit managed a five goal win at the final siren with Nell Mitchell scoring a majority of the goals for the Saints once again. Heidi Jones also scored highly for the Tigers.
Port Fairy and Warrnamnbool also had a tight contest with scores level at the major break. In a match that was plagued with major injuries, the Blues went on to win by 8. Young Eva Ryan played a great game in attack scoring 39 goals for the Blues.
Hamilton and Camperdown played out a draw at Melville Oval. In a high scoring contest – 61 goals a piece, Kellie Somerville put in another great performance and Mary Place was an outstanding contributor in attack for the Magpies.
South Warrnambool outscored Terang Mortlake 67 goals to 35. Jacqui Arundell was best on court for the Bloods and Hollie Phillips was named best for the Roosters with her 51 goal haul.
Cobden would have been extremely pleased with their 18 goal win over the Eagles. The Bombers displayed their dominance with winners all over the court and are playing some of their best netball leading into Finals. The Eagles were competitive early but struggled to find their best combinations after having to fill the void of injured players.
Milestone Games
100 Open HFNL Games
Congratulations to Nadine McNamara who will play her 100th Open game for the Cobden Bombers this weekend. Nadine first joined the Cobden FNC in 2016 when she was appointed Coach of the Open Team (after making the move from South Colac – Colac & District FNL) and coached her team to a Grand Final in 2018. Nadine was equal winner of the Open League Best and Fairest Award in 2018 along with her teammate Sophie Hinkley. Nadine has had a big impact on the Cobden FNC where she has taken on many roles including Coach and Umpire, and has been the Club Co-ordinator for the past 3 years. Nadine has also been a representative at Hampden League level as a player and Coach, and recently Coaching the 17/U Representative Team to a Premiership. Congratulations Nadine, what a great achievement!.
200 HFNL Games
Congratulations to Ashlea Doran who will play her 200th Senior game for the Hampden FNL this week. Ashlea first played a few games for the South Warrnambool FNC before making the move over to North Warrnamnbool. Ashlea has been involved at the Club for many years and has been a member of the Division 1, 2 and 3 teams over a number of years. Ashlea is also heavily involved at Club Level, where you see her volunteer her assistance wherever it is needed. Congratulations Ashlea – this is a fantastic achievement. A win this week would be a just reward.
150 HFNL Games
Penny Gunner from the South Warrnambool FNC will play her 150th Senior Game on Saturday. This is a great achievement Penny, Congratulations and hope you have a great game.
Umpire Accreditation
Congratulations to Hannah Van de aa from the Port Fairy FNC who was last week awarded her C Badge Accreditation. Hannah has been working hard on developing her umpiring skills over the past few years and this is just reward for all her hard work. Congratulations Hannah and Well Done.
My Predictions for this week.
Port Fairy travel to Hamilton to take on the Kangaroos. 2022 has been a challenging year for most Clubs with injuries and illnesses but the Seagulls seem to have had more than their fair share. They will be keen to put up a good fight this week but will struggle against Hamilton who have shown great improvement this season and will be a team to watch in 2023. Hamilton will get the points here.
South Warrnambool do battle with Portland and this will be a good contest for the Roosters leading into finals. Portland have continued to develop their younger players this year and I expect that will be very beneficial for the Club in the years ahead but South are the ladder leaders for a reason and should have a comfortable win.
Cobden have shown their dominance in recent weeks and I expect this week to be no different. They will easily account for Terang Mortlake.
North Warrnambool make their way to Camperdown to take on the Magpies. After losing one of their key defenders, the Eagles are still trying to find their best combinations with their younger players. Camperdown will take it right up to North but the Eagles have too much to lose if they drop this game and should come away with a narrow win.
In what will be the match of the round, Warrnambool verse Koroit at the Reid. After losing Jess Thwaites to injury last week, the Blues will be relying on a dominant performance from Amy Wormald. I think the Saints will have too many winners through the centre court and will need the win ro retain their second chance come finals. The Saints should win another close one.
Junior Grand Finals
This Sunday the Hamilton Kangaroos will play Koroit in the 13/U Reserve Grand Final and Warrnambool will play South Warrnambool in the 15/U Reserve Grand Final. Good Luck to all teams competing in the GrandFinals this weekend and well done to all the other Clubs who have participated in the Junior Competitions this year. Hope you’ve all enjoyed being back on the courts this season.
Author: Josie Logan