Tara Murray
Werribee Centrals are hoping to bounce back after losing a thriller to East Geelong to open the Geelong and District Netball League finals.
The Centurions started their finals series against East Geelong on Saturday in the qualifying final, having finished third in the regular season.
East Geelong got the better start, but the Centurions stayed in the game. Eventually it would come down to the wire, with East Geelong getting the win, 29-28.
Centurions co-coach Hailey Kennedy said it was disappointing not to come away with the win, but were confident that they weren’t far off.
“East came out really strong and attacked every ball and had the momentum,” she said.
“We were able to find our feet and found how we play.
“We lost by a goal but we had opportunities that we missed. We know where we went wrong and we can hopefully fix it in the next couple of weeks.”
Kennedy said what proved costly was not converting on their centre passes and had unforced errors, while they weren’t able to convert when East Geelong did the other way round.
Kennedy said that midcourters Nicole Weatherley and Melissa Prismall were their best.
“They had really good games and busted their backsides trying to get intercepts and get every ball.”
Kennedy said while they have some areas to work on, they were still able to put together some good passages of play and remain patient throughout.
The Centurions were without defender Caitlin Hendricksen for the day, while fellow defender Amanda O’Malley has a back injury they are trying to manage. Hendricksen will be back this week.
Kennedy said with a few things going against them to only lose by one goal showed the strength of the side.
The Centurions this week face Thomson in a knockout semi final.
Kennedy said they were confident of getting the job done.
“We’ve beaten them before this season,” she said. “Looking at our side, we things if we can play well be can definitely beat them.”
The Centurions B-grade was knocked out on Sunday, with Kennedy saying the side fought on despite being under strength due to a few injuries.
It’s good news for the club with its under-15, under-17 and under-19s teams are still alive.
Kennedy said it was good signs for the future to have so many junior sides still in finals.
