Ocean Grove won the Bellarine Netball League B Grade premiership in style, defeating Torquay by four goals at Newcomb on Saturday September 3.
The Grubbers held sway at every change and maintained their unbeaten run for the season to win 40 to 36.
Coach Laura Howard said the plan was to attack Torquay early.
“Our game plan was to go out hard and build as big a lead as we could and from there we needed to maintain possession because Torquay are really strong,” she said.
“It (the win) wasn’t unexpected but still very satisfying.”
Ocean Grove led by three goals at quarter time and by five at half time before the Tigers launched a comeback in the third.
“I was confident going into the last quarter if we kept our heads and maintained possession,” Howard said.
Wing attack Claudia Britt was best on court.
“She’s always one of our strongest players,” Howard said.
“She’s steady and maintained possession of the ball. Our focus was to work hard and maintain possession and Claudia delivered the ball beautifully into Nikki (Cooke) and our other goalers.”
Goalshooter Nikki Cooke scored 33 of the side’s 40 goals while wing defence Shelby Hackett also had a great game.
“Nikki’s rebounding was phenomenal and it was what kept us going,” Howard said.
Howard said the result was not just due to one season’s hard work. The work done by Elyse Scott, Nikki Cooke and Gill Hodgson has been instrumental in nurturing young players through the grades.
“It’s a result of years of hard work and commitment to the club and the work by our coches over the last 10 years,” Howard said.
“The development of the players, so many Ocean Grove teams making the grand final, is the result of the coaching that has happened at the club over the years.”
