Goulburn Valley League A-grade farewells another contender, books first grand finalist

In the first semi on Saturday, Echuca and Mooroopna went toe-to-toe in a battle not only of reigning premiers against minor premiers, but reigning premiers against arguably the premiership favourites at the time.

The Cats certainly had a wave of momentum behind them after a galvanising seven-goal win under the bright lights of their home court against Euroa a week prior, but this is the fabled Murray Bombers we’re talking about.

Echuca is known for taking just about all it can get and as far as it can go across football and netball, and Saturday brought a flawless five from five between both sports.

That meant booking an early ticket to the September 22 grand final at Deakin Reserve to attempt to defend its A-grade flag and overcoming Mooroopna 39-37 in a nail-biter at Kyabram.

The Cats held a slender two-goal buffer at the first change, but Echuca has a habit of only growing into the game stronger as time goes on.

Sure enough, two goals in arrears became a dead-level scoreline at the half before proceeding to a lead of two in its own right with a quarter to play.

On the two teams went sinking chances, but the girls in green had done enough to just hold off their foes, who had four different players hit the score sheet in an attempt to keep things fresh.

Mooroopna then would turn its attention to Sunday’s clash down south as Euroa and Shepparton collided at Seymour’s Kings Park for a chance to meet the Cats in next weekend’s preliminary final.

It was immediately clear that this clash had ‘high-scoring affair’ written all over it as the most aggregate goals of any quarter this finals series fell in a first term that saw Euroa out to a commanding 22-13 advantage.

The aggressive and high-octane offence hardly petered out in the second stanza either as Kim Borger went to work and the Bears made modest inroads to close the gap to seven at the midway point.

The margin did close further than that at one stage, but it became all about Euroa before long enough as the Magpie goalers unleashed some brilliant form, their passing patterns in full bloom, with a lead of 15 at one point before taking a 56-43 advantage into the last term.

From there, it was simply a matter of closing things out as the rain, teasing its arrival without truly delivering, ever-threatened to throw in a wild card element.

The Magpies accomplished the necessary goal, rebounding from last week’s tough setback and earning another finals date with Mooroopna by ending the Bears’ season, 74-60.

With 134 combined goals on the day, it went down as the highest-scoring A-grade clash in the league this season, eclipsing - you guessed it - the 67-57 result from last time these two sides met.

Marking her 150th game with a win, Magpies coach Ellie Warnock paid respects to some difficult adversaries.

“They were able to get a run on, and Kim’s so strong,” Warnock said.

If they won a ball and it came straight down, you knew it would end up in her hands almost every single time, and thankfully we had the same thing with Liv (Morris).

“It was a very offensive game and everyone won so much ball, working so hard to get it down to attack.

“Finals netball is a whole different game and they really made us work for it, but it feels good to get the win.

“I told the girls in the huddle that sometimes, we like to do things the hard way, and that’s what getting to the grand final is for us but now, we focus on the prelim.”

Indeed, Euroa must now search for the antidote after stumbling in its two earlier meetings with bogey side Mooroopna.

Has Warnock’s side learned from lessons of the recent past?

“Mooroopna is always such a tough side to play,” Warnock said.

“What we learned is we need to utilise our rolling subs and make sure our legs are fresh at all times.

“Every time we got someone on the court today, they got an interception almost straight away which was unreal, so keeping it fresh will be our goal.”

Not everyone gets to enjoy a big milestone appearance in a final, much less to win on the day, and Warnock made a cheeky admission about the role game 150 played during the week.

“It was sort of motivation. I said to the girls that we surely can’t lose in my 150,” Warnock said.

“Today was about the team, though; I don’t like making it about me.

“We’ve worked really hard this season and just wanted to go out today and prove that we belong there.

“It’s a wonderful milestone and I’m glad I get to do it with this club.”