Strathmerton A-grade coach Olivia Osborne has credited her side’s fitness and gun midcourter Jemmah Ryan for helping to secure a preliminary final berth at the weekend.
The Bulldogs brushed aside top four Picola District Netball League outfit Rennie 35-29 at Waaia in the first semi-final to continue their impressive finals run.
Ryan was a standout through centre for the Bulldogs and Osborne praised her “passing” and “decision-making”, while Meg Denson was “outstanding” in the defensive third.
“It was great to get the win, we expected it to be really tough and it was,” Osborne said.
“They beat us by seven goals earlier this season and so we knew it would be tough. We were up by two at quarter-time, but then they got up by two at half-time.
“We brought on some fresh legs in the third and we started to get on top, I think we were slightly fitter than them.
“Jemmah gave us heaps of drive going into attack. I thought her physicality was great, her passing and decision-making was great as well. Meg Denson was outstanding and created plenty of turnovers for us.”
The Bulldogs now face a date against Katandra in the preliminary final at Mathoura.
The Kats prevailed 48-23 in round 16 and Osborne is wary of the task that sits in front of her outfit.
“That’s going to be a tough game, we’re going to have to play better than what we did on Saturday,” she said.
“They come in fresh from a week off and that will be tough, but it’s finals, anything can happen. Hopefully we can match them.”
In Sunday’s semi-final clash, Katunga walked away with an incredible two-goal win over Waaia.
In a game that went into extra-time, the Swans held on for a 50-48 triumph to set up a preliminary final clash against Deniliquin Rovers.