LAKE Boga have kept their unbeaten season record intact by recording a one-goal win over Swan Hill in Saturday’s second semi-final.
It is the second year in a row Lake Boga have defeated the Swans by a goal in the same fixture, this time the Magpies progressed to their second consecutive grand final in 44-43 victory.
The victors will be hoping to end a 59-year premiership drought.
After leading for much of the first half, the Magpies found themselves trailing by two goals at the final change following a 15-9 third term by the Swans.
With the match on the line, Lake Boga switched Katie Carmichael and Sarah Hepburn around in the final quarter, with the sisters swapping the GS and GA bibs to great effect, as they outscored the Swans by three goals over the final 15 minutes to claim a dramatic victory.
Swan Hill had an opportunity to level the scores and send the match to overtime in the dying moments, when the Swans’ last centre pass was intercepted by Lake Boga goal keeper Sophie Peacock, allowing the Magpies to hold on to their one-goal advantage.
It was a win born from a strong defensive display from the Peacock sisters, according to Lake Boga coach Anne-Marie Stewart, who was relived to go straight through to another grand final.
“The girls are all pretty excited, we’re in there and now we can just focus on that next game, knowing that we’ve got just one game to go,” Stewart said.
“Saturday was a game of momentum really, we made a few unforced errors across the day, but it was really a game of momentum from both teams’ attacking ends.
“It was a tough battle in the ring all day and it was a battle of the two ends.
“Sophie (Peacock) and Emma (Peacock) came up with some spectacular intercepts to turn the ball over and both of them played exceptionally well.
“Our girls have been really good in that they never give up, even when we’re down, they just don’t give up.
“It’s the same with Swan Hill, they have the same mentality and the two teams are very similar that way.
“Their attackers played much better this time around than they did when we played them earlier this year, they were a lot stronger on the ball and it was a battle of the two ends, which it was probably always going to be.
“It was a tough, hard and fast contest, but it was a beautiful display of netball and skills, all the defenders played really well from both teams and they showed how to play netball.
“They were off the body, they didn’t contact or push, it was great to see.”
Sarah Hepburn led the way for Lake Boga, scoring 36 of her team’s 44 goals, while Zoe Morris wasn’t to be outdone, scoring 33 goals in another strong display of attacking netball in the ring for Swan Hill.
Morris was among her team’s better players, along with Stevie Bibby who was strong in defence.
Swans co-coach Madeleine Nalder was proud of her side’s effort despite the narrow loss.
“We we’re a bit disappointed obviously, but we said after the game that we need to park that now because we have to focus on getting the job done this Saturday against the Eagles,” Nalder said.
“It doesn’t matter what happened on the weekend, we’ll move on quick because we’ve got another game to prepare for and that’s the most important one, not the last one.
“It was a great game to watch and there were some great passages of play from both teams.
“In terms of an overall game and spectacle for those watching, I think everyone would have walked away pretty happy with what they saw.
“Both teams did a great job in displaying their strengths and putting on a great game for others to watch.”
Having defeated the Mallee Eagles twice this season, including by 10 goals in round 16, the Swans will go into this Saturday’s preliminary final as early favourites.
Despite this season’s head-to-head battles going her team’s way, Nalder will be taking no chances against an opponent who have found form over the past fortnight in finals victories over Tyntynder and Balranald.
“Obviously we’re disappointed that the result didn’t go our way, but we’ve moved on quickly and now we’re just focusing on playing the Mallee Eagles this Saturday,” Nalder said.
“We’ll have a chat about making sure we stay in the contest, because there’ll be some big moments in the preliminary final coming up, and we’ll need to make sure we’re prepared and ready to execute.
“Sometimes things just don’t fall your way, for no reason than that’s what happens, but for us, we got a fair old touch-up by Boga in the middle of the year, so for us to get as close as we did was pleasing, despite not getting the win.”
