Katandra too good for Deniliquin Rovers in Picola District Netball League C-reserve grand final

In a C-reserve special, Katandra may as well have reserved early access tickets to the grand final parade as the Kats romped their way to the flag.

After the juniors had cleared off Rennie’s courts, the mid-morning action roared to life.

The Rovers’ defensive pressure suffocated Katandra’s attack with the former establishing a four-goal lead before the latter were able to settle their nerves.

Then Eliza Phillips ignited the crowd, using height and guile to get around her defender as Katandra rolled back through to restore parity at 7-7 on the quarter time hooter.

Play resumed as it finished, with end to end action resulting in Katandra taking its first lead of the match throughout the second stanza.

One turned into two, then three and soon the Kats were on the way to the cream, up 13-10 at the half.

Molly Walters, who started the game off the court, slotted into goal keeper and did a fine job of restraining Rovers’ Millie Joyce and Lauren Butcher during the second term.

But you can never count a reigning premier.

The Rovers swung the tides to lock it up at 16-16 midway through the third quarter, and all of a sudden, the court was turning Deni blue as Katandra ceded its lead to trail by two.

In the final exchange, the topsy turvy game flipped back and forth - the Kats would go ahead by two, Deniliquin would get one back, lather rinse repeat.

For the last 10 minutes, there was only one goal in it and despite a lack of scoring, the noise from the sidelines told the full story.

But as the Kats shifted up a gear in the final sprint to carve out a 24-21 advantage, that was all she wrote.

“It’s been a fantastic year, the girls are an absolutely ripping group to coach,” Harry said.

“They’re all pretty placid, some are older ladies and then a few younger girls from 17s coming through and playing so it’s been a very good season with developing some of the younger girls as well.

“All of the ladies get along very well, they’ve played netball for a long time so it’s been perfect.”

Harry praised a full team effort - especially the work of best-on-court Walters - while fellow co-coach Bonnie Ireland weighed in on the Kats’ outlook.

“We had nothing to lose, we’ve all been carrying some little injuries but we didn’t have to worry about resting for next week because it’s done.”