By Nick Creely
SOUTH EAST FOOTBALL NETBALL LEAGUE
REVIEW – FINALS WEEK 3
Cranbourne produced one of the performances of the season, and now they’re through to a grand final.
It’s that simple for the Eagles’ A Grade girls, who pulled off one of the great finals performances against the highly fancied Beaconsfield, 41-40.
In the three matches between the two sides this season, the Beacy girls have been far too strong on each occasion. That’s what makes this upset victory all the more unbelievable.
Cranny finished with eight less home and away wins then the Eagles, and came into Saturday’s preliminary final as serious underdogs at Pakenham’s Toomuc Reserve.
In a high quality first quarter, both sides were almost dead level, with the Eagles taking in a one goal lead at quarter time.
A reset at quarter time was all it took for the Cranbourne girls to wrestle ascendency, with Tahlia Coates playing a sublime quarter to score 10 goals and help her side lead 23-20 at half time.
Both sides threw everything they could at getting the game winning break in the second half, and the brilliance of the likes of Steph Ryan in the centre and Tara Cecil and Kayla Wilson in defence helped stave off the desperate Eagles team.
Unbelievably, there were many twists and turns in the final minutes as the crowd deafened the voices of the players on the court, but the underdogs held firm to pull one of the more remarkable victories.
For the Eagles, they still enjoyed a brilliant season despite being knocked out of the premiership race prematurely.
Bianca Sanzaro, Rylee Nelson, Danielle Cameron and Kaela Hughes all could hold their heads high after fighting out the game until the very last moments.
It sets up an intriguing grand final between Tooradin-Dalmore and Cranbourne at Edwin Flack Reserve this Saturday.
The Seagulls have been the most dominant side of the season, and have had the best of every side but Beaconsfield this year.
What is the most impressive aspect of the Seagulls’ is their incredible goal scoring star power, and it will have them go in as heavy favourites.
But the Eagles are riding a wave of momentum and are certainly relishing the underdog tag as seen in both of their finals wins which have come through plenty of grit and determination.
Once the whistle blows and play gets underway, it’s anyone’s premiership to win.
In B Grade, however, Beaconsfield managed to advance through to a grand final after a comfortable win over Tooradin-Dalmore, 47-40.
The Eagles rose from third to defeat the second placed Seagulls, and will now meet a dominant Narre Warren team chock full of stars on the court.
Tooradin-Dalmore, however, did pick up the win against Narre Warren 35-30 in the C Grade preliminary final.
And in D Grade, Tooradin-Dalmore were far too good for Beaconsfield, 35-20.
