AFTER 59 long years, the Magpies finally sit at the top of the Central Murray tree after dethroning Swan Hill with a 12-goal win in Saturday’s A grade grand final.
The final buzzer saw a sea of emotion spill over for long-suffering Lake Boga supporters, most of whom have never celebrated a black-and-white A grade premiership.
Lake Boga netball co-ordinator Sheridan Harrop was one who could barely contain her emotions after the 40-28 win, with Harrop just one of many still pinching herself 24 hours after.
“I don’t think it’s quite sunk in just yet,” Harrop told The Guardian on Sunday.
“We were all sitting around on Saturday night and I don’t think any of them could quite believe it.
“It’s been a long couple of years to get to this point.
“I think we’re all still stunned that it’s finally happened, but not only that, that we’re still undefeated, which was something that played on all of their minds as they headed into the grand final, I think.
“The last quarter our girls were ready to get it done.
“The girls were united on the court and were right behind each other.
“They knew 15 minutes was all they had left and our crowd was massive and helped our girls get home.
“It was a fantastic game from all the girls.
“They came off super-proud of themselves, and the club is really proud of them.
“There were a few supporters who were talking to me on the sidelines during the last quarter and they were saying ‘We’ve got it’, but you can never underestimate a netball match.
“We saw last year the fightbacks we had to pull off in the dying minutes to get back and win, and until there was one minute to go, I didn’t really breathe easy until then.”
Lake Boga came within a whisker of breaking their premiership drought last year when they fell agonisingly short against the Swans, with the game going to extra time, only for the Magpies to be denied by their more finals-experienced opponents.
Fast forward 12 months and there would be no such dramas for the girls in black and white, with Lake Boga’s starting seven having all been part of the last year’s squad that experienced the devastation of getting so close.
“I know last year, playing in the grand final for that first time in years, we looked back and on reflection we probably weren’t finals ready,” Harrop said.
“We needed that experience to mentally prepare for this year, I feel.
“The girls went into Saturday’s game ready and they weren’t going to let anyone rattle them.
“We played our own game and got behind each other across the four quarters.
“It’s been a long hard journey for these girls, but this team is like a family and they went out there and played like one.
“They embraced the moment and enjoyed it.
“I’m so happy that they can finally be rewarded with being called a premiership team – and an undefeated one at that.
“For me there’s no better reward for a group of friends who enjoy playing netball together.”
It was Lake Boga’s defence that ultimately proved to be the difference, with the Peacock sisters Sophie and Emma, combined with Jemma Meehan, restricting the normally high-scoring Swans to just 28 goals for the match.
At the other end of the court, goal shooter Sarah Hepburn was at her powerful best, scoring a game-high 32 goals, with goal keeper Sophie Peacock taking home best-on-court honours.
Although history was created by the seven girls wearing black and white on the court, the final result was a reward shared by everyone, according to Harrop, with so much work done by so many longtime servants getting the club to this point.
“It’s been so long since we’ve experienced this – most of our club members have never experienced anything like this in their lifetimes,” Harrop said.
“It was history in the making.
“It’s been almost three generations since we have been to this stage, and for everyone who has come before us it was an emotional day.
“You work towards a day like Saturday year on year and every club can only hope to get to this point at the start of every season.
“For us, we’re just so lucky that we’ve had a chance to play on grand final day two years in a row and even more thankful that this time we’ve come away with the result we were longing for.”
