NETBALL: ANOTHER BRILLIANT WEEKEND
by Claire Brushfield and Dawn Douglas

The official Round 1 of the 2008 Netball season saw a brilliant round of netball played by Geelong West St Peters, starting off on Friday night with the U11’s notching up a great 5 goal win. The girls’ skills are continuing to improve and this showed across the court. The best players were Molly Gribble, Shannon Quinn, Grace Waldron and Holly Harbison.

 U13 Blue were up against a team of giants from Bell Park and after some scrappy play, put in a awesome last quarter to get within 2 goals. Goalers Georgia Caruana and  Steph Boyce were the best along with Angie Sparks in defence.

 U13 Red recorded a 12 goal win. The whole team put in a great performance, but special mention goes to Kelly Hoskin in centre, and Sabrina Yewdall and Molly Lloyd.

 The U15s showed great skills against a taller and stronger Lara, and came away with a 16 goal victory. Elizabeth Crossan was again strong, along with Paris Kontelj and Gabby Concotta.

 The U17s put on an impressive show, dishing out a 28 goal thrashing to Grovedale Black. It was hard to pick best players in such a great team effort, but Megan Sells, Jess Young and Laura McDonald were standouts.

 Saturday’s matches saw our under 13’s keeping it even with Grovedale until half time, with Grovedale pulling away winning by 12 goals in the end. Well done to Jess Leader for her best on efforts.

 Under 15’s put up a fight against a strong Grovedale, unfortunately going down by 31 goals. A good team effort was put in by all the girls.

 U17’s was an impressive (but close!) win with GWSP coming away with the 3 goal win. Stand outs were Zoe Tompkins and Rachel Leader using her height as her strength in goals.

 D Grade had a slow start, but kicked into gear after half time coming home strong with a 19 goal win over Grovedale. Kathleen Rix and Ashton Jerinic in defence put on an impressive show and Kristen Kelly carved it up in mid-court.

 C Grade had a comfortable win as well with GWSP up by 22 goals. Best on was Kathy Huntley-Mitchell, Jill Leader with impressive accuracy in goals and Felicity Blenkiron.

 B Grade looked very impressive with a great (and fast!) match winning 33 to Grovedale’s 19. Best on court went to Beth Callaghan who continues to put her body on the line for team, Renae Scott and Stacey Henneman.

 A Grade was a much closer match with the crowd biting their nails right to the end. Unfortunately GWSP went down by 1 goal. Final scores, Grovedale 34 to GWSP 33. Vanessa Cuthbert was stand out for A grade.

 Thank you to everyone who was there to cheer, support and motivate all the girls on Saturday. It was a beautiful day and one that proved successful for majority of the teams. We look forward to another great round this Saturday against Bell Park at Bell Park.


FOOTBALL: BIG TEST AT BELL PARK

After a hard fought win by our seniors last week against Grovedale giving the club a perfect start to the season we travel to Bell Park for a very challenging encounter. Both teams were big improvers last season and will be keen to continue on in 2008. Our senior side will not be decided until the results of several fitness tests are known.

 The Under 18s were magnificent with a thrilling 3 point win over the Tigers, hitting the front with very little time left on the clock. Both sides struggled to kick goals in good conditions. The reserves were in control throughout their match to record a good win.

 Check the Football Geelong website http://www.footballgeelong.com.au for full results, goal scorers and best players in both football and netball competitions.