In the second semi final played Friday night, Blue Wrens secured a place in the Grand Final; beating Ports by a slender four goals.
From the beginning of the match it was clear that it was going to be a fight to the finish.
Blue Wrens lined up with their usual format, while Ports named Lauren Lowe on the scorecard with a notable abs-ence being Chloe Joyce.
The pace of the game from the first whistle was intense to say the least.
Wrens scored the first goal from goal shooter, Andrea Tyler.
Tyler was going to be confronted with a challenging defence this match, with Port goal keeper Chloe Willersdorf almost matching her in height and certainly matching her with ability.
Ports missed their first attempt at goal, which began a flurry of impressive defending from Sally Burford and Ashe McCarthy.
Eight times in the quarter the ball was either rebounded, intercepted or deflected by these defenders.
Port’s Hollie Joyce along with Willersdorf fought hard to stop Wrens converting from these turnovers, and numerous times the ball ping-ponged back and forth without successful conversions.
Wrens lead by four goals at quarter-time.
The second quarter saw the players settle. The game continued in the same uncompromising fashion, but there seemed more control of the play.
Ellen Pole for Ports provided much needed back up on Centre passes and her battle with Jordan Mezzino was a hard fought one.
Mezzino was cool and composed, and one would never have known it was her first A Grade final; she found space on the ring and fired valuable passes into Vianna Fasciano and Tyler.
Bec Adams combined beautifully with Mezzino and the Ports defence found themselves under intense pressure.
Despite very tight marking from Abby Lambert, Lauren Lowe for Ports was a presence through the midcourt.
Her determined attitude saw her rewarded with nume-rous possessions and Jess Dunkley and Hayley Combe were able to work with both her and centre, Kayla Hayes to pave a path to the goal ring.
Dunkley’s confidence incre-ased as she adjusted to the long arms of Burford and several times she converted shots from long range.
At half time the scores were Wrens 23, Ports 17.
No doubt at half time Port’s coach, Deb Hayes would have set in motion a plan to reduce the six goal lead.
Whatever words of advice and encouragement she gave her players, it certainly wor-ked.
Ports hit the court in the third quarter with renewed vigour and shot the opening three goals.
Wren’s feather seemed ruffled but they quickly adjusted and settled.
Fasciano was certainly under intense scrutiny from Joyce but she managed to find space where there seemed to be none, shooting some deli-ghtful goals.
Her discipline on the court is to be commended and her work rate is all that coach, Cherie Peterson asks for each week.
Willersdorf combined effectively with Joyce to stall Wrens scoring and had Tyler chasing balls as play was redirected numerous times.
Abby Lambert nimbly stole the ball from hesitant hands and Adams supplied plenty of support to move the play forward, but the scoring wasn’t flowing as fluently as it had been for Blue Wrens.
McCarthy was stalwart team at the other end.
All caution was thrown to the wind as she intercepted three valuable passes and rebounded two missed shots.
Dunkley was kept busy running the baseline, giving Lowe and Hayes plenty of offers for the ball.
Her consistency helped Ports peg back the lead.
The scores seesawed as the quarter progressed.
The lead reduced to three goals, back to four and then to two.
It was certainly a show of strength as bodies were put on the line. Wrens lead by two goals at three-quarter time.
The atmosphere was electric as players took the court for the last time.
There was no doubting the players endeavour as defences tightened yet again and held balls became more prevalent.
Burford was a casualty of “eyes only for the ball”.
Colliding with attacking Ports players she showed the heart and soul all players were putting on show.
Adams was in obvious distress as her legs cramped midway through the quarter.
She used the full two-minutes injury time and was still in pain as the whistle was blown to restart the game.
Woods, Peterson and Atha-nasos warmed up just in case, but Adams gritted her teeth and stoically stayed on the court, showing what it takes to want that win.
Hayes displayed Ports ‘never say die attitude’ and continued to exert herself; intercepting wayward balls and showing authority.
She threw herself at every ball that came her way and mixed feeds up into her shooters.
The four goal win saw Wrens skip straight into the Grand Final on the September 4.
Ports will play Centrals next week in the Preliminary Final to see who will challenge Wrens for the ultimate prize.
– Sharon Athanasos
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