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For the first time in four years the Dumbleyung Netball Club entered a team into the Katanning Netball Associations Over 30’s Carnival. This year saw nineteen teams compete across three grades, with teams travelling from as far as Perth players from Southern Cross and Hopetoun and the oldest player age 65 to participate in this great annual competition. A team of 30 umpires from the Great Southern Netball Region Academy kept the day functioning efficiently.
The day is played as a short netball format consisting of two 12-minute halves with each team playing one another for points with the top two placed teams going straight through to the Grand Final. We were placed into C-grade, which consisted of 6 very competitive teams.
Our team the “Dumbleyung Old Ducks” included Elspeth Smith, Carly Smith, Roisin Ball, Jen McCarthy, Amanda Gilfellon, Mel Eynon, Pip Gooding and last minute recruit Amy Bolt and coached by Janelle Bairstow.
Kojonup Puffin Panthers were the first team we played against. They were beautifully dressed in black and finished their outfit with bright pink tutus. Although they gave us a run for our money we managed to take advantage of a few over turns and score those magical goals, enabling us to win the game. That winning feeling was sensational and boosted our confidence going into our second game against the Wagin Queens.
At the end of the first half against the Wagin Queens we were even. It was a lower scoring game and tightly contested with Wagin coming away in the dying minutes to finish four goals up. With a large break between our second and third game it was time for the Old Ducks to regroup and head out for coffee to The Daily Grind.
Our next three games against the Cranbrook Cranny Granny’s, Katanning Tutu Much and Katanning Cardi Cougars were all victorious for us of which we could all see that our game was improving throughout the day. Our unforced errors were decreasing, our determination was intensifying and our basic netball skills sharpening, we were looking good!
With mixed feelings as to where we would be placed at the end of the day, we were one of three teams to finish with four wins and one loss – so it came down to percentage. The Old Ducks made it into the Grand Final by 4% over the Katanning Cardi Courgars! We were thrilled and were determined to give the Grand Final our best shot, even though we were playing against the Wagin Queens who we had lost to earlier.
Having won the first centre pass we worked this to our advantage and scored the first goal. This lifted our momentum and with a few unforced errors against the Wagin Queens, we made sure we converted this to goals. By the end of the first half we were up by six goals, although this did not mean we had won the game. Still feeling confident, we began strong in the second half. Our leads, passes and focus down the court improved as the game progressed with defence keeping Wagin’s goals to a minimum. The final siren couldn’t come soon enough with the final score in Dumbleyung’s favour 22 – Wagin Queen’s 11. The victorious feeling was fantastic and we couldn’t wait to celebrate! The day was completed with presentations and afternoon tea in the Pioneer Room at the Katanning Leisure Centre. A big thank-you to Amanda Gilfellon for organising our team, Janelle Bairstow for coaching and to the Katanning Netball Association Executive for hosting such a well-run and fun day.
Game Scores:
Dumbleyung Ducks (18) vs Kojonup Puffin Panthers (16)
Dumbleyung Ducks (9) vs Wagin Queens (13)
Dumbleyung Ducks (18) vs Cranbrook Cranny Granny’s (9)
Dumbleyung Ducks (19) vs Katanning Tutu Much (12)
Dumbleyung Ducks (22) vs Katanning Cardi Cougars (15)
Grand Final:
Dumbleyung Ducks (22) vs Wagin Queens (11)
Article by P.Gooding
The day is played as a short netball format consisting of two 12-minute halves with each team playing one another for points with the top two placed teams going straight through to the Grand Final. We were placed into C-grade, which consisted of 6 very competitive teams.
Our team the “Dumbleyung Old Ducks” included Elspeth Smith, Carly Smith, Roisin Ball, Jen McCarthy, Amanda Gilfellon, Mel Eynon, Pip Gooding and last minute recruit Amy Bolt and coached by Janelle Bairstow.
Kojonup Puffin Panthers were the first team we played against. They were beautifully dressed in black and finished their outfit with bright pink tutus. Although they gave us a run for our money we managed to take advantage of a few over turns and score those magical goals, enabling us to win the game. That winning feeling was sensational and boosted our confidence going into our second game against the Wagin Queens.
At the end of the first half against the Wagin Queens we were even. It was a lower scoring game and tightly contested with Wagin coming away in the dying minutes to finish four goals up. With a large break between our second and third game it was time for the Old Ducks to regroup and head out for coffee to The Daily Grind.
Our next three games against the Cranbrook Cranny Granny’s, Katanning Tutu Much and Katanning Cardi Cougars were all victorious for us of which we could all see that our game was improving throughout the day. Our unforced errors were decreasing, our determination was intensifying and our basic netball skills sharpening, we were looking good!
With mixed feelings as to where we would be placed at the end of the day, we were one of three teams to finish with four wins and one loss – so it came down to percentage. The Old Ducks made it into the Grand Final by 4% over the Katanning Cardi Courgars! We were thrilled and were determined to give the Grand Final our best shot, even though we were playing against the Wagin Queens who we had lost to earlier.
Having won the first centre pass we worked this to our advantage and scored the first goal. This lifted our momentum and with a few unforced errors against the Wagin Queens, we made sure we converted this to goals. By the end of the first half we were up by six goals, although this did not mean we had won the game. Still feeling confident, we began strong in the second half. Our leads, passes and focus down the court improved as the game progressed with defence keeping Wagin’s goals to a minimum. The final siren couldn’t come soon enough with the final score in Dumbleyung’s favour 22 – Wagin Queen’s 11. The victorious feeling was fantastic and we couldn’t wait to celebrate! The day was completed with presentations and afternoon tea in the Pioneer Room at the Katanning Leisure Centre. A big thank-you to Amanda Gilfellon for organising our team, Janelle Bairstow for coaching and to the Katanning Netball Association Executive for hosting such a well-run and fun day.
Game Scores:
Dumbleyung Ducks (18) vs Kojonup Puffin Panthers (16)
Dumbleyung Ducks (9) vs Wagin Queens (13)
Dumbleyung Ducks (18) vs Cranbrook Cranny Granny’s (9)
Dumbleyung Ducks (19) vs Katanning Tutu Much (12)
Dumbleyung Ducks (22) vs Katanning Cardi Cougars (15)
Grand Final:
Dumbleyung Ducks (22) vs Wagin Queens (11)
Article by P.Gooding
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