Magpie miracle: Moama under-17 stun Tongala

The epic grand final win caps off a stellar finals run for Moama which saw them lift the premiership trophy after finishing fourth on the ladder.

The Magpies came into the clash as the underdogs, and goaler Sienna Agg said she was thrilled when the final siren sounded.

“I could not believe it,” Agg said.

“When we went into overtime I thought this could be the end of it, but when the siren went I absolutely lost it.

“I am so proud of the girls, we improved out of sight, especially over the finals.

“To come in and win, I am so proud of all of us. It was so special, especially on our home court.”

It was a grand final for the ages, and it was Moama who made a fast start.

The Pies netted the first five goals of the game and led by seven goals at the end of the first quarter.

But Tongala came roaring back in the second stanza, responding with six of the first seven goals of the quarter. The Blues hit the lead for the first time of the game at one point, but the score was tied 24-24 at half-time.

The rain started to come down after the break, and both teams battled in a hard-fought second half.

The scores were level once again at three-quarter-time, setting up a dramatic final term.

The Blues jumped out to a two-goal advantage early, but Moama fought back to tie the score before building a two-goal lead of their own.

The Pies were up 39-37 with just minutes left on the clock, but this time it was Tonny who battled back to tie the game, with the scores deadlocked at 40-40 when the siren sounded.

Two seven-minute halves were needed to split the two sides, as a huge crowd watched to see who would finally come out on top.

Just like the second half, extra time saw the two sides evenly matched. With less than 30 seconds to go the scored were tied again and it looked like the game was bound for more extra time.

But Moama got the ball and quickly transitioned it into attack, with Eden Drennan draining a goal with less than five seconds to spare to clinch a stunning victory.

Moama coach Olivia Taverna said she almost couldn’t believe that her side had won when the siren sounded.

“I was honestly in shock, I just kept saying ‘I can’t believe we have won this’,” she said.

“Going into it we knew if we were going to get it done, it was going to be difficult. So to come away with the win is amazing.

“I am so proud of how the team played this entire finals series, especially today.

“A lot of these girls have been here since under-13s and never won a grand final, so to have them do that and for a lot of them it be their last year of junior netball, it is amazing.”

While it was a moment of jubilation for the Moama players, coaches and fans, it was heartbreak for Tongala who missed out on a perfect season by the smallest of margins.

Blues coach Corey Nexhip said he was proud of his team after a stellar season.

“We can’t take away from the girls and the incredible season they had,” Nexhip said.

“They’ve continued to develop and grow each week to take the step up to senior netball and that’s what we set out to do.

“Winning a grand final is the ultimate goal to top that off, but obviously we fell just short to quite a clinical Moama team.

“To our girls’ credit, they still played an excellent game of netball. Throughout the game there were just a couple of key moments going Moama’s way.”

Tongala’s Abby Waasdorp earned the best-on-court honour for her fantastic performance in the grand final.

“We started off Abby in wing attack and she’s always such a solid player,” Nexhip said.

“We switched her into goals, and when we were seven goals down she made such a big difference.

“She read the space really well, moved the ball quite quickly and just has good vision and connection.”