James Murphy
East Gambier 48 d North Gambier 36
WESTERN Border netball reigning A Grade premier East Gambier lives to fight another day after defeating North Gambier in Saturday’s elimination final.
In the end it came down to the start and the Bulldogs came out of the blocks firing, determined to keep their premiership defence on track.
They were relentless with their pressure and willingness to contest, which resulted in plenty of turnover ball and errors from the Tigers.
Missing goal attack Macey Griffith due to Covid protocols, North had Lauran Norman in the role, fresh from her match-winning performance in the 17 and Under semi final, while Ashlee Kalantarian played under duress with a knee niggle.
The defensive intent from East was all over the court and Morgan Amy and Bo Creek completely shut down the North shooting circle.
That resulted in a 15-6 first quarter, which set the Bulldogs up for the remainder of the game.
Emily Hunter and Tarsh McCallum were unstoppable in the attacking third, hitting the circle’s edge hard and finding Amryn Bosko and Sarah Lock in good shooting position.
They did no disappoint under the post as they netted 15 from 17 in a clinical opening quarter from East.
It was a similar story in the second term as the Bulldogs continued to assert their authority with the same level of defensive intensity and precise and patient ball movement.
Bosko was a standout in the shooting circle with her strong positioning and well-timed leads.
She converted 13 goals from 17 attempts as East moved to a 16-goal half-time lead.
North did reshuffle at the quarter-time break and brought Cara Nulty into the goal attack role.
She found her range straight away but the Tigers had no answer to East’s pressure game.
Norman re-entered the clash at wing attack after the main break and the revamped frontline did start to find more space.
A nine-from-nine shooting performance from Caroline Wakefield certainly helped the state of the scoreboard.
On the flip side it was East’s least productive quarter as the intensity dropped and North found some defensive mojo with Zahra Crough and Mel Renko earning some important touches and rebounds.
The Tigers won the quarter and managed to reduce the deficit to 13 at the final change.
North also won the last quarter but the damage had been done and the eventual 12-goal defeat ended its season.
The win books East a ticket into the preliminary final and the Bulldogs will now wait to play the loser of the Millicent and West Gambier clash this weekend.
The hard running of Brianna Walters was a feature for the Tigers, as was Nulty’s composure at goal attack and Renko’s tenacity in defence.
Hunter was a force for East through the centre, while Amy dominated the air with some stunning interceptions and Bosko was as composed and dangerous as ever in the shooting circle.
