A GRADE – LUCINDALE 48 d PENOLA 40
A SLOW start spelt the end of the Penola A Grade netball team’s finals campaign, when it faced Lucindale in Saturday’s Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara netball preliminary final.
Lucindale set up a 5-0 lead with some accurate shooting from Trudy Lane making life tough for Penola’s backline.
That five-goal difference remained at the first break.
The second quarter was much the same with intense defensive pressure from the Roos causing turnovers.
Changes were made at half time with Emily Winter going to goal attack, Sarah Lock to goal shooter and Alana Winter to goal keeper, while Sally Skeer and Kaitlin Egan switched.
As a result the quarter was more evenly matched with both teams scoring 10 goals each.
The Eagles went on to win the final term, but it was not enough to draw back the margin.
Penola fought hard to the finish, but the first half made it tough to come back with the final score an eight-goal deficit to the Eagles.
Coach Egan was named as the team’s best player, but her Eagles will now go back to the drawing board for the 2020 season.
A RESERVE – PENOLA 47 d LUCINDALE 31
AFTER the first hiccup of the season the week prior, Penola’s A Reserve netballers booked a grand final berth with a good win over Lucindale in the preliminary final.
The Eagles took some time to settle to the conditions in the first quarter against Lucindale, which saw the score level on nine-all at the first change.
The second quarter was another even affair, with Penola failing to capitalise on turnovers and rebounds.
However, the Eagles managed to hold a two-goal advantage at the main break.
They regrouped at half time and then put their foot down in the second leg of the game.
Penola came out firing and shot accurately to take countless intercepts and break away for an 11-goal lead heading into the final stanza.
The Eagles kept up the solid work rate in the final term and ran away with a 15-goal win and a place alongside Keith in the grand final.
After a narrow one-goal loss to Keith in the qualifying final, Penola will be eager to reverse the result and show why it finished the minor rounds undefeated.
Lauren Foster was the best-on-court for the Eagles on Saturday and will look for another solid performance in the big dance.
