Tight tussles for Pigeons

After another bye, the A grade girls were looking forward to getting into the second half of the season.

Tilly Kennedy is currently travelling through Europe and will miss a few matches. Co-captain Hannah Symes was a late withdrawal due to illness also.

Kaleisha Pell, a young star, had been promoted to A grade for the remainder of the season on the back of some very impressive B grade matches. Her commitment to training and the work she is doing off the court is paying off.

The game was a fair battle throughout all four quarters. Lots of unforced errors by the A grade girls meant they weren’t able to break away and push the margin further.

It was great to see Emily Laracy return from a foot injury and play a very strong 3 quarters of netball. Her huge arm span is a nightmare for attackers trying to get the ball around her.

She was fast and imposing in the circle and got great rebounds. It gives the A Grade lots of versatility come finals time. Furthermore, club legend Annaliese Grinter stepped up from B grade and played beautifully. Fast, smart, and controlled play helped ensure we came away with the win.

B Grade

Yarrawonga 43 defeated North Albury 39

This week’s game against North Albury was a tough challenge, but in the end it was the Pigeons who came out on top.

In the shooting end Mylah, Maddie and Eliana were constantly moving in the ring to create space and shooting under pressure leading to a 4 goal win.

The mid court included a mixture of Cait, Jac, Em, Georgie and Macey who provided the Pigeons with strong drives, many intercepts and good pressure down the court enabling Yarra to get multiple turnovers throughout the game.

The defensive pressure throughout the mid court enabled the defenders Macey, Amy and Georgie to pick off any loose balls and get turnovers. The pressure in the ring from the defenders put doubt in the North Albury shooters minds, giving the Pigeons the opportunity to rebound any missed goals.

After a close scoreboard game, Yarra were super pleased with the win and how they played as a team. Big thanks to Laura for stepping in as coach and making everything run smoothly.

C Grade

Yarrawonga 37 defeated North Albury 33

It was a nice sunny morning down at the JC Lowe netball courts, where the C Grade girls had a good hit out against the North Albury Hoppers.

The girls fought hard for four quarters with fresh legs rotating regularly through the mid court.

The defence end stood strong, applying lots of pressure, making their opponents work hard for every goal and created many turnover opportunities.

Helena West and Briar Rodaughan had some tough competition in the goal ring, but they worked off each other well and remained focused under pressure.

Macey Hicks took out one of the awards with her excellent drives out of defence and picking off intercepts left, right and centre.

Helena took out the other award with her leadership and talk to her teammates throughout the four quarters. Another great result for the C graders.

Awards: Helena West and Macey Hicks

Under 17s

Yarrawonga 34 defeated by North Albury 44

Yarrawonga had the challenge of facing off against 4th place North Albury which was sure to be a tight contest. The girls have come a long way since round two and from the first whistle it was a very even contest.

Incredible defensive pressure from Steph and Morgan allowed multiple scoring opportunities for Mylah and Tilly.

An unchanged line up in the second quarter had Yarrawonga get within a goal of North Albury with incredible speed and turnovers from Savannah in the centre and great drive out of defence from Anabell.

Brooke came on into GA in the third quarter with Mylah moving into the centre and whilst the 17’s came so close at times the score at three quarter time still had North up by four goals.

The last quarter Yarra came out strong with some great drives in WA from Mikyah and confident feeding but Yarra just did not have the stamina to run out the final quarter with North up by ten goals at the final siren.

A huge shout out to Lenny Ramsdale for stepping up and sitting on the bench this week.

Under 15s

Yarrawonga 10 defeated by North Albury 62

The Pigeon Under 15 girls met a fast paced North Albury on Saturday.

With lots of families away for school holidays, it gave the ‘up and coming’ Pigeonettes a chance to represent Yarra.

The girls started off a little shaky with lots of turnovers going North Albury’s way. Once they settled and found a bit of rhythm, they had some impact on the game, especially in the 2nd quarter.

The mid court girls worked tirelessly keeping the game under control, whilst the attackers kept working with all their might to get the ball to the post.

The defenders had a tough day at the office with North Albury’s intensity and goal for goal precision hard to compete with.

All in all, Coach Sarah Moore was wrapt to watch lots of positive play happening on the court. Keep it up girls.

Awards: Leni Ramsdale and Lily Thomson.