defending DCS Divas’ Lisa Travis in
Saturday’s A Grade netball grand final.
The DCS Divas finished as back-to-back Cobar Netball Club A Grade champions with a thrilling 31-23 grand final win over Cougars on Saturday at Ward Oval.
Grand Gals claimed this year’s B Grade title after they won a tough battle with Howie’s Off Cuts. Both games were exciting to watch and both were played in great spirit.
In A Grade DCS Divas took the lead from the outset and finished the first quarter four goals ahead at 8-4.
With both sides having a number of players on the bench, each team made positional changes during the break which had an immediate impact when play resumed for the second quarter.
The Cougars came out firing and had quickly added three goals to their tally before the DCS Divas had sunk their first goal for the quarter.
Cougars’ shooters Taylah Good and Simone Howard fought hard for possession in the circle up against the tough defensive combination of Marybeth Lowe and Corrina Brenton.
Cougars continued to dominate the quarter and outpointed the DCS Divas to finish 15-11 ahead at half time.
After the half time break Demi Smith returned to the Goal Keeper’s position for DCS Divas where she remained for the rest of the match. This proved to be a game changer as Smith made a huge impact shutting down the circle to limit the Cougars’ shooters scoring opportunities. At the other end of the court DCS Divas’ shooters, Corinne McLeod (Player of the Grand Final) and Lisa Travis had well and truly warmed up and were both shooting with a high level of accuracy. At three-quarter time DCS Divas were back in front 24-19.
They continued to control the final quarter and, despite desperate play by the Cougars, DCS Divas continued to have the upper hand.
Their defence held strong and, with McLeod in fantastic shooting form, she and Spinks kept the score ticking over for DCS Divas to finish as convincing 31-23 winners.
In the B Grade game it was predicted that if Grand Gals took an early lead they would be hard to beat and that’s exactly what they did in their grand final match on Saturday against Howie’s Off Cuts.
Finishing as B Grade runners-up last year, Howie’s Off Cuts were hoping to reverse their fortunes this year however Grand Gals had other ideas.
With the cool, calm and collected mother/daughter shooting combination of Wendy and Caitlin Byrne, the Grand Gals quickly took a 9-5 lead going into the first break. Throughout the second quarter Grand Gals continued to own the game as Howie’s scrambled to get themselves back into the match. A determined fightback late in the second quarter ensured they were still in striking distance and they narrowly trailed 17-13 at half time.
The Byrnes shooting combination stayed strong all game which enabled Grand Gals to extend their lead to 26-20 at three-quarter time and they cruised home in the final quarter to easily win the match with a 37-28 margin.
Grand Gals’ centre court player Sophie Thompson was named the Player of the Grand Final.
