MILLICENT held off a determined North Gambier side in Saturday’s Western Border Netball Association grand final to claim its 10th successive premiership crown.
The Saints were forced to dig deep as the Tigers pushed hard in the third term, to close the margin to just one goal at the final break.
But with one of the Tigers best performances for the season – without injured star shooter Caroline Davey in the side – the most improbable of grand final upsets was well and truly on the cards.
However, the reigning premiers never surrender and after surviving the onslaught of the stunning third quarter from the Tigers, the Saints steeled themselves and took control of the final quarter, setting up a seven-goal victory.
It was the Saints’ 14th title overall and another epic final, where Millicent was challenged strongly but found a way.
Of the past five title deciders – two against North and two against East – only one has been a blow out and the challengers have been well in the hunt in the other four.
Millicent was able to turn what started as a goal-for-goal battle early into a game where, while there was only a handful of goals in it, they had control.
Wary of North defenders Maddie Whaites and Jordyn Adams, the Millicent attack line was patient and worked the angles and as many passes as were required to find Demi Verbena and Donna Denton in good shooting position.
Lisa Duldig made good position on the circle’s edge, while after a slightly shaky opening minute or two, Paige Nitschke found her mojo and delivered some wonderful balls, which were finished accurately by the Saints shooting combination.
At the other end, as predicted, the Millicent defensive quarter of Hayley Dunn, Kimmi Varcoe, Madi Turner and Duldig did not allow the Tigers an easy ball .
Ash Kalantarian and Amanda O’Shaughnessy had to work and rework their position to try and shift the Saints defence and find an opening to Kaitlin Egan at goal shooter and Ellie Gould.
As she did last week, Egan worked overtime outside the circle as well as positioning strongly in the circle to open up opportunities for Gould, but it was a tough opening stanza and the Tigers trailed by five goals by the first break.
Varcoe and Turner came up with some critical interceptions to ensure the reigning premiers held sway.
The second quarter was a more even affair as Gould started to find more ball and netted nine for the quarter as the Tigers seemed to settle, improving across the court, with better defensive pressure, as well as more system in attack.
That being said, the Saints were still able to extend their lead and it was seven at the main break.
The third quarter saw the match turned on its head.
North generated 19 scoring shots to Millicent’s eight and Gould was unstoppable.
North started to generate errors from the usually unflappable Saints and Gould made sure the turnovers counted on the scoreboard as North brought it back to a one goal game.
The match remained an arm wrestle early in the last, but then the Saints found another gear.
Before leaving the court with an Achilles strain, Varcoe again picked up some defensive touches and Turner also created some critical turnovers, while Denton, Verbena, Paige Nitschke and Duldig refused to be rushed and worked the ball patiently to ensure they created strong scoring opportunities.
Whaites and Adams still got some important touches, but also attracted more whistle, especially on the shot and it allowed Millicent to set up the buffer and eventual win.
The usual suspects lifted in the final term with Dunn rebounding strongly, Duldig was safe with ball in hand and Denton netted eight from nine as flag number 14 was secured.
Duldig was named best on court in another impressive performance in a stunning year of netball.
