Werribee Centrals’ depth was on show as it won through to the Geelong and District Netball League preliminary final.
After a narrow loss in the first week of finals, the Centurions bounced back on Sunday against Thomson in a knockout semi final, winning 47-41.
Centurions co-coach Hailey Kennedy said they were really pleased with the performance.
“We were in control for pretty much the whole day,” she said..
“Alual Garang came into the mix, one of our younger girls stepped onto the court, to give Brigette [Ardossi] a bit of a rest late in the game.
“We were still able to control the game.”
Kennedy said Ardossi, who can play either end of the court, really stood up in the absence of Amanda O’Malley.
She said goal shooter Ellie Tubbs, who shot 23 goals, was another standout.
“It was a good team effort across the court,” she said. “Everyone went in and backed each other up and just supported each other.”
Kennedy said O’Malley was keen to play and help her side progress in finals, but they made the call they didn’t want to risk her.
She is currently battling a back injury which limited her the week before.
“She’s still having issues with her back,” she said. “As much as she wanted to be out there play, we kept her on the side lines.
“Brigette did a great job in keeper and Caitlin Hendricksen was back.
“Amanda said she was raring to go, but it was in the back of my mind that she could hurt herself more and didn’t want to put her in that position.
‘We were pretty confident with our squad.”
The Centurions will face Winchelsea in the preliminary final, after the minor premiers were beaten by East Geelong, 33-28 in the other semi final.
Kennedy said they were keen to have another good performance and win through to another grand final.
“We are super excited and really happy,” she said. “If we train as well as we did last Thursday, we should have a good game this weekend.
“We’re focusing on the one percenters and the mistakes that we made against East Geelong, we took care of this week.”
The Centurions under-19s continued their remarkable feat winning through the grand final, with Kennedy saying they had been nearly undefeated for three years.
Their under-17s suffered a loss but have a double chance, while the under-15s were knocked out of finals on the weekend.
Tara Murray
