A1 grand final. Photo: Greg Symes.
MALLEE 1 won its fourth consecutive Esperance Netball Association A1 premiership with a 40-35 win over a determined United 1 at the Esperance Indoor Stadium last Saturday afternoon.
United 1 led 12-11 at quarter time after the defensive efforts of Casey Shearer and Caitlin Blackman limited Mallee 1’s scoring opportunities.
Mallee 1 then tightened the defensive screws and increased its physicality in the next two quarters to lead 31-25 at the final break.
Photos: Greg Symes.
Esperance Netball Association president Fiona McDonald said it was a hard fought match.
“The game was pretty close in the initial first few quarters but they (Mallee 1) got away in the last half,” she said.
Alysha Castelli was awarded the MVP of the grand final, starting at Wing Defence before being moved to Centre for a portion of the match.
“You can’t fault Alysha; she was the MVP on the day, she was very impressive with her reading of the play and her intercepts; she played a very good game.” McDonald said.
“The other player who was absolutely fearless was Casey Shearer for United; she never gave up.”
Sarah McMahon at Goal Shooter was outstanding for Mallee 1 with 23 goals finishing off the excellent defensive work of Amy Delcaro and Eliza Vlasich at the other end and Castelli in the midcourt.
McDonald praised the teams sportsmanship and the high standard of umpiring for all five grand finals.
“I think all the games were really well played,” she said.
“The sportsmanship was amazing on the day and win or lose, all teams walked away with a sense of satisfaction.”
After the grand finals, the Esperance Netball Association’s end of season wind-up was held at the Esperance Bay Yacht Club, Mikalya Barty from Gibson 1 receiving the Division 1 MVP.
