VANSITTART Park will host the match of the final Western Border netball minor round between North Gambier and East Gambier.
The Tigers are yet to be genuinely challenged by fellow premiership contenders East and West Gambier, but one week out from finals, especially following a convincing loss to Millicent, the Bulldogs will look to take it up to their highly-fancied opponents.
North Gambier v East Gambier
Doing that will require full-court defence from the Bulldogs, as it cannot be expected of Morgan Amy to deny Caroline Davey possession on her own.
Davey has been prolific in 2018 and is converting as accurately as ever and while Amy is in good form, she will need pressure on the delivery to give her a chance to disrupt those feeds.
No doubt, she, and fellow defender Bo Creek will work in tandem to shut down the space, while still paying respect to the always consistent and hard working Ellie Gould, but much will also rely on the match up between Tyne Bosko and Kaitlin Egan.
Bosko just goes about her role with no fuss, but she is a strong one-on-one defender and can match Egan for strength in the air.
What she will need do, is deny Egan her trademark strong drives to the top or the pockets because once she is in that position the feed is always precise.
Through the middle, the battle between the hard running Amanda O’Shaughnessy and Tarsh McCallum will be pivotal.
Both play as well at the defensive end, as they do in offence and their pace is well matched, meaning it will be a tough day at the office for both.
Sara Smith will return to the attacking wing where she has had a solid month, growing in confidence, and she will just need to clear Ash Kalantarian’s hands and use her change of direction to shake off the smart wing defender and find the circle’s edge.
The return of Tenille Gray will be critical in this clash and her battle with Jordyn Adams looms large.
Gray was sorely missed last weekend and they will welcome her return, not just as a target in the shooting circle, but with her willingness to work up the court as a key-link player.
Adams will no doubt still be out hunting for interceptions especially if East look to transition with cross court passing, but she has played most of her junior and senior netball against Gray and knows how critical it is she denies her too much ball.
One of the other key battles is Sarah Lock, who so often sneaks under the radar, and Tiger defender Maddie Whaites, who is coming off a month of outstanding netball.
Lock creates space for Gray and is a wonderful long range shot and her smarts on delivery and willingness to work every inch of the goal third ensures every goal keeper is kept busy.
However, Whaites thrives on a one-on-one battle and will contest everything.
The Tigers will enter the clash warm favourite and should enter the finals series on the back of a tough win.
Casterton Sandford v West Gambier
WEST Gambier will aim to iron out wrinkles from its clash with North Gambier when it heads across the border to take on Casterton Sandford in Round 16 of Western Border netball at Island Park.
The Roos stuck with the Tigers for the best part of three quarters at the weekend, but coach Lisa McGregor will aim for a four-quarter effort against the Cats.
West will be wary of the tenacious Casterton Sandford outfit, which is coming off a confidence-boosting win over South Gambier.
Maddy Teakle and Amy Cram enter this match off strong defensive performances, but they will have their work cut out again if Tori Perry and Madalane Cleary, in particular, bring their Round 15 form.
Cleary was outstanding and her battle with Cram will be pivotal.
Ellen Bowman was a revelation in centre last weekend, but she has the tough assignment of Jess Bell tomorrow.
Bell is arguably the recruit of the Western Border season and is rarely beaten.
Smart, composed and hard working, Bell is a barometer for the Roos.
The same applies to star goal attack McGregor, who will be matched with the tight-checking Sharna Fidler.
McGregor and Tahlia Earl will look to bring the form they had in the Roos’ Round 14 defeat of Millicent, where the duo worked seamlessly together and finished accurately.
Scarlett Jarrad will be better for the run at the weekend as she works her way back from injury and her battle with Carlee Davey looms large in the final wash up also.
The Cats challenged the Roos in their last outing, but West has a first semi-final to prepare for and need to bring a four quarter performance to the table, which will result in a solid win.
South Gambier v Millicent
IT will be a long game for South Gambier when it tackles reigning champions Millicent in the final minor round of Western Border netball on the weekend.
The Saints lost in Round 14 and East Gambier saw just how the Saints react to a below par performance, when, albeit without Tenille Gray, the Bulldogs were demolished by the ladder-leaders.
South is coming off a disappointing loss to Casterton Sandford and would love to take on any club, but the Saints.
It will be a tough day at the office, but setting challenging yet achievable goals will be the key for Demons coach Lauren Duncan and her young line-up.
Looking after the ball and applying defensive pressure for the full 15 minutes of every quarter will be critical to avoiding a calamitous scoreline.
Chances are Lisa Duldig may well choose to rest her troublesome knee, but the bad news for the Demons is Paige Nitschke – who can also influence the contest in goals – and Hannah Nitschke both have an impact in the mid court.
The Saints have developed their juniors well and lose little when the emerging generation hits the court.
Madi Haggett is also growing as an A Grade player as she gets some valuable court time under her belt in the defensive circle.
Madi Turner has been in form this season, whether she is positioned on the defensive wing or in the centre and her pace and precision on delivery will be hard to combat.
Kimmi Varcoe is a supreme reader of the play and also works hard one-on-one when required, while Hayley Dunn is the cornerstone of the Saints defence.
Then there is Donna Denton and Demi Verbena, who use speed, screens and deception to work the ball into good shooting position.
South defenders Zoe Duncan and Alyssa Boylan have arguably been the side’s best over the past six weeks, but they will rely on their team mates up court, including wing defender Tori McIntyre and Lauren Duncan, to slow the speed of ball from the Saints – no easy task for any mid court combination.
The Demons restructured their forward set up for the second half last weekend so which combination of Tilah Buckingham, Georgia Hood and Imogen Walker will suit up for the shooting circle is anyone’s guess, but they will need to work hard and be patient to find space in the Saints defence.
Caitlin Grubb could again bring her smarts, hard running and strength to the mid court but it will be all about limiting the scoreboard damage for the Demons as the Saints look to fine-tune ahead of a another premiership campaign.
