BY NATHAN DOLE
MITIAMO will be striving to deny Maiden Gully YCW Eagles the tag of back-to-back A-grade netball premiers in the Bendigo Bank Loddon Valley FNL this Saturday.
The Superoos and Eagles will clash at Dissy Machinery Oval in Inglewood from 3.15pm.
It’s a rematch of last season’s grand finalists in which a Maiden Gully YCW team, then coached by Christie Griffiths defeated the Laura Hicks-coached Mitiamo.
Just as there have been on-court changes there was also a change of coaches at both clubs.
This season Adam Boldiston took charge of an Eagles team which had a 15-1 run to the finals.
Sole defeat for Maiden Gully YCW was in round six when Newbridge marked a 51-48 victory at Marist College Bendigo.
A 13-3 record for the Jen Wilson-coached Mitiamo in the home-and-away series included defeats against the Eagles in round three, 51-70 at Maiden Gully, and 55-64 at Mitiamo’s John Forbes Oval in the 12th round.
The Superoos were also beaten, 43-37 at Pyramid Hill’s Mitchell Park in the sixth round.
Mitiamo’s finals campaign tipped off with a 57-45 win against Marong in the qualifying final.
A week later and the Superoos faced Maiden Gully YCW in the second semi-final.
A brilliant match went to overtime in which the Eagles clinched a 62-59 victory.
Mitiamo earned another shot at the Eagles by winning last Saturday’s preliminary final against Marong.
It was another thriller which went the way of the Superoos, 50-49.
Maiden Gully YCW Eagles
Coach: Adam Boldiston.
Tia Webb (captain), Leisa Barry, Laura Butler, Rachael Gray, Christie Griffiths, Brianna Harris, Arriah Keogh, Jayne Norton, Meg Patterson, Tia Reaper, Jarrenhy Webb.
Mitiamo
Coach: Jen Wilson.
Laura Hicks (captain), Sarah Bateman, Abbey Battersby, Taylah Diss, Alyce Falls, Alicia Hay, Caitlyn Hocking, Amelia Ludeman, Eleisha McKean, Isabelle Morrison, Emma Pay, Jessica Pay, Carly Scholes.
The B-grade grand final between Marong and Maiden Gully YCW Eagles starts at 1.30pm.
A Marong team coached by Alisha Pickering will be aiming to cap an unbeaten run to premiership glory.
Only defeats for the Christie Griffiths-coached Eagles in the home-and-away series were against Marong.
The Panthers won 51-38 at Maiden Gully, and 66-50 at East West Oval in the 10th round at Marong’s Malone Park.
The Panthers scored a 44-31 win against Pyramid Hill in the qualifying final and a week later met the Eagles in the second semi-final.
A superb contest went Maiden Gully YCW’s way, 43-42.
Marong hit back for a 63-37 result against Bridgewater in the preliminary final.
Marong
Coach: Alisha Pickering.
Katie Bond, Bianca Bourke, Lexi Brennan, Briella Gibbs, Paige Gordon, Christine Gray, Farin Gregg, Kirsty Hamilton, Brittany Hercus, Tania Kerrison, Erin Stewart, Savannah Waters.
Maiden Gully YCW
Coach: Christie Griffiths.
Leisa Barry (captain), Chiara Artavilla, Paige Barry, Skye Griffiths, Brianna Harris, Courtney Matthews, Olivia McCartney, Alicia Osborne, Laura Suckling, Jarrenhy Webb, Shallon Webb.
It’s a showdown between the Eagles and Panthers in C-grade as Maiden Gully YCW faces Marong at 10am.
The Harriett Slorach-coached Maiden Gully YCW is on 16-game winning streak after it was beaten. 59-52 in the first round by Marong.
In the 10th round the Eagles won 43-42 on the Panthers’ court.
Finals action for the Renee Gadsden-McCaig coached Marong began with a 42-40 victory against Pyramid Hill in the qualifying final.
In the second semi the Panthers could not stop the Eagles slick passing as Maiden Gully won 55-37.
Marong struck back for a 44-39 win against Pyramid Hill in the preliminary final.
Maiden Gully YCW
Coach: Harriett Slorach.
Olivia Hall (captain), Danielle Archer, Bronte Baxter, Sarah Bibby, Jorja Gibson, Mackenzie Marsh, Madison Marsh, Courtney Matthews, Alicia Osborne, Chloe Plant, Shallon Webb.
Marong
Coach: Renee Gadsden-McCaig.
Katie Bond, Kayla Grant, Tamera Gribben, Alanna Hamilton, Alyce Huggard, Chelsea Kenworthy, Kate Larkins, Nikita Macauley, Georgie McGrath, Tayla Nadort, Sarah Turnbull.
Marong and Maiden Gully YCW will contest the C-reserve decider from 1.30pm.
This season’s record between these teams stands at two-one in favour of the Georgie McGrath-coached Marong.
The Eagles won 42-41 in round one, but Marong marked a 45-30 victory in the 10th round at Malone Park.
Beaten just once in the home-and-away series, Marong won the second semi-final against the Eagles by 28 goals.
The Sarah Bibby-coached Maiden Gully YCW began the play-offs with a four-goal win against Bears-Lagoon Serpentine in the qualifying final.
After the second semi defeat, Maiden Gully YCW struck back to win the preliminary final against Newbridge by 17 goals.
Marong
Coach: Georgie McGrath.
Tiana Cassar, Elise Chambers, Jess Ede, Kayla Grant, Kate Healey, Emily Kelly, Kate Larkins, Georgie McGrath, Caitlin O’Hara, Aleisha Shay.
Maiden Gully YCW
Coach: Sarah Bibby.
Danielle Archer (captain), Jessica Bailey, Mollie Dobeli, Courtney Gibson, Ketelyn Holmes, Laura Lindner, Olivia Mannes, Madison Marsh, Lisa Mitchell, Chloe Plant.
It’s a battle of the B’s as Bridgewater meets Bears-Lagoon Serpentine in the 17-and-under grand final at 11.45am.
Both matches in the home-and-away series ended one-all.
The Mean Machine won 52-49 at Gadsden Finance Serpentine Reserve in the seventh round.
A Bears line-up coached by Sarah Perry won 54-45 in the 16th round on Bridgewater’s court.
After finishing second and third, BLS and Bridgewater clashed in the qualifying final.
The Caz Wood-coached Bridgewater won that match, 58-56 and was then first to the grand final after a 52-40 win against Marong in the second semi.
The past two weekends the Bears have beaten Maiden Gully YCW, 55-32 in a first semi, and then Marong, 38-29 in the preliminary final.
Bridgewater
Coach: Caz Wood.
Natalie Flood (captain), Anouk Anastassiou, Milla Finch, Rachael Flood, Maya Langdon, Shayla Lister, Evie Pay, Emerson Sim, Daisy Stringer, Sophie Tyrrell, Araminta Wood.
Bears-Lagoon Serpentine
Coach: Sarah Perry.
Marley Addlem, Amber Cole, Ava Francis, Catelyn Glewis, Asha Jaggers, Ivy McCann, Erin Murphy, Ebony Twigg.
There have been great matches played between 15-under grand finalists Calivil United and Bridgewater this season.
The Demons and Mean Machine meet in the grand final at 10am.
In round six, Calivil United won on Bridgewater’s court by 10 goals.
Scores were 37-all when the siren sounded to end the round 15 clash at Calivil.
After a 43-39 win against Inglewood in the qualifying final, Bridgewater faced Calivil United in the second semi.
The Kellie Anset-coached Demons marked a 43-38 win in that contest.
Jointly coached by Piper Normoyle and Sidney Neimann, Bridgewater hit back for a 39-36 victory against Maiden Gully YCW in the preliminary final.
Calivil United
Coach: Kellie Anset.
Lexie Austen (captain), Macey Vinnicombe (vice-captain), Ruby Cullen, Stephanie Ingram, Jorja Lawry, Charlie Lenton, Georgia Pascoe, Layla Pearce, Ava Rudkins, Paige Smith, Chloe Tweed, Teagen Vinnicombe.
Bridgewater
Coaches: Piper Normoyle, Sidney Neimann.
Rachael Flood (captain), Amber Anderson, Jaymee Bailey, Imogen Brown, Hannah O’Toole, Amba Pollock, Dylan Sim, Josephine Simmons, Keely Wharton, Araminta Wood.
Calivil United will be aiming to mark an unbeaten run to the 13-under premiership when it plays Maiden Gully YCW in the grand final.
First pass in that match will be at 11.45am.
The Bec Cullen-coached Calivil United marked a 61-11 victory against the Eagles in the Back To Raywood match in the eighth round.
A fired-up Demons team won 53-25 on Maiden Gully’s court in the 17th round at Marist College Bendigo.
Calivil United scored a 49-23 win against Bridgewater in the second semi-final.
After a 27-35 loss to Bridgewater in the qualifying final Maiden Gully YCW hit back to beat Inglewood in the first semi by 10 goals.
The Rachael Gray-coached Eagles flipped the result of their previous clash with Bridgewater to win the preliminary final by 13 goals.
Calivil United
Coach: Bec Cullen.
Ruby Cullen (captain), Teagen Vinnicombe (vice-captain), Zali Cullen, Oscar Balic, Penny Balic, Charlie Lenton, Caitlin Ralphs, Lylah Rudkins, Elodie Sharman, Paige Smith, Talia Smith, Ava Weeks.
Maiden Gully YCW
Coach: Rachael Gray.
Eden Murray (captain), Marley Drahm, Isabella Eastwood, Matayah Leech, Paige Lupton, Charlotte Squibb, Annabella VanDerZee, Ruby Wallis, Audrey White.