Sport
4 September, 2023
Natte holds off Rovers to progress to preliminary final date with Carisbrook
NATTE BEALIBA (60) def MARYBOROUGH ROVERS (46) Natte Bealiba have kept their season alive by recording a 14-goal victory over a gallant Maryborough Rovers. It was a tight affair early on, with Rovers looking to suckerpunch Natte with some early...
NATTE BEALIBA (60) def MARYBOROUGH ROVERS (46)
Natte Bealiba have kept their season alive by recording a 14-goal victory over a gallant Maryborough Rovers.
It was a tight affair early on, with Rovers looking to suckerpunch Natte with some early goals, but as the quarter wore on, Natte started to assume a little bit of control, and finished up scoring 16 goals to 11 in the first term to lead by five goals at the opening break.
In the second term, it was still very much a dogfight, but the Swans were able to capitalise on all of Rovers’ mistakes by scoring 14 goals to 10 to take a nine-goal lead into the main break.
The third quarter saw the Swans break the game open, scoring 14 goals to eight to open up what would be a match-winning 15-goal lead.
Knowing that the final quarter would be their last as a club, Rovers gave it everything, and were able to win the last quarter by scoring 17 goals to 16 to keep the margin at 14 goals.
Emma Ryan was in the thick of everything for Natte, scoring 55 goals, while for Rovers, Tegan Maddern finished with 34 goals.
For Rovers, it is farewell, but not goodbye, as they maintain their heritage as part of the Maryborough Giants when they merge with Royal Park next season, while for Natte, a preliminary final date with the unbeaten Carisbrook is their reward.
Ryan said a lot of credit needed to go to Rovers for keeping the Swans honest for large portions of the day, having previously won both their encounters by 38 goals and 24 goals during the home and away season.
“Rovers came out firing, and we knew they would. We kept on grinding and grinding, and we knew that if we kept doing that, we’d get a gap. But it was tough doing that. There were no easy passes, and we had to fight for every ball, so credit to them,” she said.
Ryan says she is pumped to play Carisbrook, even despite their struggles in the recent past, having scored just 105 goals in their past three meetings with the Redbacks.
Saturday’s preliminary final will give them a chance to get their offence in order, according to Ryan.
“We’re pumped. Last time we played Carisbrook, we knew we were nowhere near our best, so we are very excited to get out there and show them what we can do this time around,” she said.
“We need to stick to our game plan. I feel we are really good in attack when we let the ball go, and we are really quick of our centre passes.
“If we can do that, we’ll be at our best, instead of stopping and starting and being a little stagnant. The free-flowing game would be beneficial to us.”
The finals have been jam-packed with plenty of pressure for the reigning premiers, who have had to navigate an Avoca team desperate to make amends for their preliminary final loss in 2022, as well as a Rovers team with a lot of emotion in their last year as a club.
Ryan, however, says the Swans have dealt with everything that has been thrown their way well so far.
“We’ve been good in the last couple of games to just keep our heads. Even though we lost to Avoca last week, it was such a high-quality game, and we knew we are able to play well regardless. But now with the four best teams in it, it’s crunch time,” she said.
