THE Mallee Eagles secured back-to-back A-reserve premierships after recording a 20-goal win over Balranald in Saturday’s grand final.
The Eagles dominated the match after quarter-time, with the Roos scoring just 24 goals after the first break as Mallee defenders Sarah Young and Amy Jobling locked down powerful Balranald goalers Bec Harvey and Macy Lloyd.
At the opposite end of the court the Roos had no answer for Eagles goal attack Mikayla O’Meara, who shot a game-high 40 goals and earned herself best-on-court honours.
O’Meara was a dominant force in the Mallee Eagles’ ring, with Balranald’s Isabella Papa battling bravely all afternoon but unable to halt the influence of the young Mallee shooter.
After a tight opening quarter, the match opened up in the second term, with the Mallee Eagles outscoring the Roos 14-8 to open up an eight-goal advantage at half-time.
With the match on the line, Balranald needed to respond quickly, which they did, scoring the first two goals of the third term.
However, they were unable to maintain the rage as the Eagles scored 10 of the next 12 goals – with O’Meara shooting nine – to blow the game wide open.
From there Mallee controlled the match, continuing on with a strong final quarter to eventually run out 57-37 winners, leaving Balranald to lament what could have been after a series of late-season injuries derailed their finals campaign after they had gone through the home-and-away season undefeated.
