The Surfside Waves women’s Division 2 saved their best until last with a thumping win against Lara United in the grand final.
The Waves had not beaten their semi-final or grand final opponents all season, but swept aside both teams in the finals.
The Waves beat Corio Bay 3-1 in an epic semi-final and then demolished Lara United 5-nil in the decider.
Coco Patterson scored a hat-trick for the Waves in the grand final, but the Waves had to do it the hard way in the semi-final.
Tamsyn Staehr had to leave after 30 minutes for a netball grand final and Emma Moran couldn’t get out of a shift at work as a police officer and had to leave at half time.
Despite not beating their eventual finals opponents, coach Pail Mills said his side was unlucky during the season.
“The girls got better and better as the season went on,” he said.
“We had a nice mix of three or four experienced players and we had some younger players that had potential.
“I think we were unlucky in the games earlier in the season.”
Mills said a 5-nil grand final scoreline was a pleasant surprise.
“I’m surprised it happened in a grand final but we were getting better and better,” he said.
“The semi-final was a really tough game. It was as good a game of women’s sport that I’ve seen for a very long time.”
The Waves took a 3-nil lead at half time in the grand final and Mills said he was confident at that stage.
“Two-nil is a very dangerous scoreline, but three-nil is much more comfortable,” he said.
Goalkeeper Gabby Peacock drew particular praise for keeping a clean sheet.
Despite the lead, Mills said he stuck to his mantra of giving the players at least a half of game time.
“We had a squad of 13 and only had two on the bench, so I’ve always rotated them around on a regular basis.”
“They were easy to coach and were outstandingly led by Gina Murphy as captain.”
