Historic netball final

THERE were plenty of elite games of netball at the Riddell District Football Netball League grand finals on Saturday, with a range of local clubs taking home premierships.

Woodend-Hesket was too strong in the A-grade grand final against Wallan, making it four premierships in a row for the club in the A-grade competition.

It marks major history for the league, as it becomes the first-ever team to do so.

It was a dominant game, ending 59-34, with Woodend using an experienced and well-built lineup against the Magpies to secure its fourth flag in a row.

It was a close town rivalry in the B-grade, which went down to the wire.

Romsey took on Lancefield, which was again first versus second on the ladder after the home-and-away season.

Romsey had the majority of control throughout the contest, until the Tigers stormed home late to push the Redbacks all the way to the siren, where they would eventually win by three points, 59-56.

Multiple Romsey players found themselves in the mix for the best player, but it was given to Tarnee Hammond, Lancefield’s major goal scorer, who not only gave the Tigers a major heartbeat, but also scored her 1000th goal for the season.

In the Under-19.5s, Wallan secured its only premiership for the day, narrowly defeating Riddell to go back-to-back.

Riddell looked initially strong out of the blocks, setting the tone for the game in the first, but Wallan clawed their way back to lead by seven points at stages of the match.

It went down to the wire in the last, with the game down to a one-possession ball game late in the final term, which could have been taken by Riddell, but an unforced error meant Wallan got let off, meaning it would hold on to win the flag.

Ava Verrier was named best for Wallan after her strong performance attacking for the Magpies.

Riddell took out the C-grade grand final, in another thriller against Gisborne Giants.

Just two weeks ago, the two teams went to overtime and that match was snatched by the Giants.

This time around, Riddell was slightly stronger for a lot of the game, but were down by two at stages in the final term, before grabbing the lead late in the piece to win the grand final by just two goals.

Emma Croft was given the medal for best player after her dominant performance at centre, controlling a lot of the play throughout the day.

In the D-grade, Lancefield defeated Diggers Rest comfortably to bring the ultimate glory back home, rounding out a majorly strong season for its whole netball department.

Sharna Smith was named best player on the court.