By Marcus Uhe
The Outer East Football Netball A Grade premiership race will once again run through Narre Warren after the Magpies secured the minor premiership for the second consecutive year on Saturday afternoon.
With two games remaining in the home and away season, Narre Warren has an unassailable 10-point lead at the top of the table, on the back of a 57-47 victory over Monbulk at home in round 16.
Quick balls into Grace Ioelu fuelled a formidable start for the Magpies who doubled Monbulk’s score at the first break to lead 18-9
On the back on tenacious defence from Gabrielle Dwyer, Abbey Barrientos and Julia Kaitani, the Magpies forced turnovers in the Hawks’ front half that led to easy scoring opportunities at the other end of the court.
Such was the threat of Ioelu that Monbulk chose to double-team her at stages under the net in an effort to deny her receiving the ball.
Monbulk fought back to close the gap to six goals at half time, but the Magpies got back to their brilliant best in the third term that sealed the minor premiership.
They opened the quarter with five of the first six goals and closed with four of the final six to outscore the Hawks 18-12.
Monbulk won the final quarter but was too far back to alter the outcome of the contest.
Beyond quarter time, Monbulk matched it with the top side, outscored by just a single goal in the prevailing three quarters in an effort that will boost the Hawks confidence ahead of September.
Peri Reid was held to just 17 goals by the swarming Magpies defence as her counterpart Ioelu scored 40 at the other end of the court.
Elsewhere, Emerald’s 23-goal win over Upwey Tecoma shut the door on any potential gate-crasher’s to the A-Grade finals party, as its lead over seventh place extended to 12 points.
It secures a finals berth for the Bombers, a feat to be applauded following promotion from Division One the previous season.
Emerald was slow out of the blocks and trailed by as many as eight goals during the opening quarter but found its groove in the second to run away with a comfortable victory.
From a five-goal deficit at quarter time, the match swung on the back of an 18-9 second quarter in the Bombers’ favour.
They took the lead at 22-23 and closed the quarter with eight of the final 11 goals to lead by four goals at the half.
After the long break, Emerald flexed its muscle with a 41-22 half to remind not only the competition, but themselves, of what their best looks like.
58 goals from Kaylah Loulanting led the Bombers’ charge, overtaking Emmalia Blake as the competition’s leading scorer.
Kim Ryan, meanwhile, added a spark off the Emerald bench in just her fourth game of the season, and first since round 13.
Pakenham showed no mercy in a 56-goal hammering of a struggling Olinda Ferny Creek outfit, piling on 87 goals in a frightening display.
It’s a fourth consecutive win for the Lions and comes at crucial time ahead of a season-defining battle with Monbulk next week.
Such was their dominance that the lowest-scoring quarter of the afternoon netted 19 goals – the rest garnered 20, 24 and 24, respectively.
The goals were shared between Kelly Cousins, Charlotte Hudolin (28 each) and Rose Laidlaw (30), while Eliza Molino added cream to the top of a priming cake, playing her fifth game of the season as she reintegrates herself back into the side ahead of the finals.
ROC found a much-needed scoring punch in notching its second highest team score for the campaign in a 71-42 defeat of Gembrook Cockatoo, thanks to a combined 68 goals from Kaelah (28) and Isabella O’Shanassy (40).
Important wins to Wandin over Berwick Springs and Mt Evelyn over Woori Yallock sustained the congestion in the top six, with the Rovers maintaining second place on the table and Wandin fourth.
With two points separating second and fourth, all is building to a massive final round when Mt Evelyn heads to Narre Warren for a huge final game of the home and away season.
