Divas were crowned the 2024 Senior Mixed Netball champions after they accounted for Smash Ups 50-39 in Friday night’s grand final.
While there was an 11 goal difference in the final margin, spectators all agreed the game appeared to be much closer.
Held under lights at the Ward Oval courts in front of a vocal crowd, the match was played at a frenetic pace from start to finish.
Smash Ups got off to a great start and, at one point, they led by six goals.
Divas, cool under pressure, came back and closed the gap and they went to the first break with a narrow two point advantage.
With tall shooters and defenders at both ends of the court, lob passes into the circle were used to great effect by both sides.
Each team had the advantage of a tall male player and so there was also plenty of displays of athleticism throughout the centre court.
Both sides also had strong defence with both Player of the Grand Final, Neve Carter (Smash Ups) and Amie Hill (Divas) working hard all game.
Both were responsible for a number of turn overs for their sides.
Divas’ many years of previous grand final experience served them well and it was their ability to slow the game down and direct the play that saw them through to a win.
They also gave their shooters, Lauren Urquhart and Briana Coffey, more shooting opportunities.
Urquhart averaged a 70 per cent shooting accuracy throughout the match (including 83 per cent in the third quarter) and Coffey shot at 66 per cent (after starting well with 85 per cent in the first quarter).
In total Divas however had 78 opportunities at goal which they converted into 50 points, compared to Smash Ups, who put the ball up 68 times.
Smash Ups Nikki Gilbert finished the match with a 64 per cent shooting accuracy and contributed 28 points to their final tally of 39.
With Urquhart and Coffey working well together, Divas maintained the same shooting combination throughout the match.
They only made adjustments to their centre court and occasionally their defence as Smash Ups threw in a couple of different shooters (Mollie McAndrew and Jaxon Burke) with Gilbert to try and wrestle back control of the match.
By half time, Divas led by nine points.
Through strong, long passes, Smash Ups started to dominate and, at one stage, it was just five points the difference.
The third quarter started in tit-for-tat fashion and Divas only needed to maintain the status quo.
Smash Ups continued to mix things up and in their desperation they rushed play and at one stage, found themselves 14 points behind.
They re-grouped to close their deficit to 12 points going into the final quarter.
Smash Ups fought on and with two minutes left in the match, the margin was just eight goals, however Divas remained calm under the pressure to finish with the win.
End of season presentations followed with Brianna Watson (Smash Ups) earning the Best & Fairest award (for the second season running); Bridgette Negfeldt collected the Sportsmanship award and Mary Urquhart won the Larnie Keen Club Person of the Year award.
The Players’ Players from each team were: Lauren Urquhart (Divas), Nikki Gilbert (Smash Ups), Sarah Nicholson (Pumpettes), Sally Short (JKM), Rikki Schaumkel (Pink Galahs) and Ellie Fenton (Peak Golden Girls).
