NETBALL REVIEW

By Matt Fotia

Another interesting weekend has passed on the netball court with some teams getting off their duck, others maintaining a perfect record and a few experiencing a scare. All this and more in the Netball Review.

It was a massive day for the Beaconsfield Netball Club on Saturday. Not only were they playing their arch rival in Berwick for the Battle of the Creek, they were also raising money for the Charlie Teo Foundation via their fundraising event Ciara Pays it Forward paying back to the doctor who saved Beaconsfield netballer’s Ciara Nelson’s life when he completed successful brain surgery on her.

To watch our interview with Ciara’s mother Colleen click here 

Their girls stepped up to the occasion to continue their undefeated 2019 season, knocking off the Wickers 59-33, running away with the victory during the second half, with a 31 to 18 scoreline after half time. Rylee Nelson performed well in her last hit out before this weekends Interleague clash with Bendigo FNL, whilst Bianca Sanzaro returned to the scoresheet with 38 goals, whilst Emma Clarke (19) and Kassidy Withers (14) were the goal scorers for Berwick.

Read about the Netball Interleague Squads here.

The Eagles seem the most likely of challengers for Olinda Ferny Creek who also remain unbeaten after they defeated Woori Yallock with ease by 54 goals. Peri Stewart continued her impressive start to the season with 46 goals, bringing her season tally to 220 goals.

Elsewhere Cranbourne defeated Wandin to send them to an 0-4 start, which they share with Healesville who went down to Narre Warren.

The Pakenham Lions scored a massive upset win over the previously undefeated Mount Evelyn in Division One, getting over the Rovers by five goals to put them into fourth spot on the table. The game was tight from the first whistle with neither side able to score more than eight goals in a quarter, which the Lions achieved in the first and third term. This win is a massive confidence booster for the Lions as their only other win had come against a rebuilding Emerald.

Monbulk managed to get their season underway with a win over the aforementioned Emerald, making sure of the victory with a massive final term as the Hawks piled on 20 goals to five. Steph Puopolo netted 34 goals, whilst Tiana Mancarella was impressive in defence. Despite only having the one win and sitting in seventh on the ladder the Hawks have the fourth best defence in the division conceding just 129 goals across the four rounds.

This leaves ROC as the only undefeated side in the division after they did their work early to knock of Warburton Millgrove. In the other game this weekend Doveton scored their second win for the year defeating Belgrave.

Kinglake got the win they craved after their round two loss to Yea, but were challenged by a new look Yarra Glen outfit who were out to impress after their poor showing against Seville the previous Sunday. Yarra Glen were able to match Kinglake for three of the four quarters, trailing at quarter time by two (9-11), winning the second quarter by three goals (9-6) and conceding the last term by just one (7-8), but it was a third quarter lapse in which Kinglake scored 13 goals to just six that will disappoint Yarra Glen and was ultimately the difference.

Billie Cvijetic shot 28 goals for Kinglake and their defenders Alice Waack and Caitlin Ryan were also impressive, whilst Alicia Hughes was the star for Yarra Glen, headlining their best players with 23 goals.

Around the grounds Alexandra put in a very impressive performance against the Yea Tigers but ultimately went down by 13 goals and Powelltown grabbed another win defeating Gembrook-Cockatoo, Samantha Hansen netting 47 for the Towners who celebrate their 100th year anniversary this weekend against Alexandra.

100 YEARS | In 2019 Powelltown are celebrating their 100 year anniversary.

On the 18th of May they host Alexandra and to commemorate the occasion they having a Club book launch (a reflection of the past 100 years) & an afternoon tea.

See the flyer below for more details. pic.twitter.com/bjFQhTA8fw

— AFL OUTER EAST (@AFL_OE) May 13, 2019