DEFENDING champions Robin Hood are the first team into the Orange Toyota Cup grand final after downing Life Studio 52-47 in Saturday’s major semi-final.
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The two sides played out another epic battle in the Orange Netball Association competition with the scores tied at the end of the first and second quarters.
Robin Hood held a slender two-goal lead after the third period and were able to extend their lead in the final quarter for the five-goal victory.
Robin Hood centre Tegan Dray said taking the right options helped her team to the win.
“It was pretty even throughout the game with a lot of up and down, as it always is. We just managed to pull through in the last quarter,” Dray smiled.
For Life Studio’s Mardi Aplin, the loss delivered a mixture of emotions.
“We stuck to our game plan, so I was really happy with that part of it,” Aplin explained.
“Obviously I would have been happier with a win but that doesn’t bother me because at least this way we get another good hard game this weekend, and if we can win that game we’ll take them [Robin Hood] on in the grand final.”
If Life Studio want another crack at Robin Hood, they’ll have to beat High A for the chance.
High A, coached by Dray, led from start to finish in downing Royal Hawks 35-31 in the minor semi-final.
High A were up 14-13 at half-time and lifted in the third period to take a 25-20 lead before going on to the four-goal win.
A highlight of the match was High A defender Sophie Kloosterman playing the second half at goal shooter and only missing two of her 15 shots.
“Our whole season has been a bit inconsistent because we’ve had lots of injuries and we’ve had to adapt to different situations,” Dray said.
“The girls have been really flexible in terms of where I put them and they’ve just gone out there and done their job amazingly well. So, I’m very happy with them.”
Royal Hawks captain-coach Amanda Hurford said it was disappointing to lose but she was happy with her team’s performance.
“I said to the girls, ‘Give everything you’ve got, play variety’, and they all did that,” Hurford said.
“Orange High were the better team on the day and congratulations to them, they played really well.”
Life Studio and High A will clash in this Saturday’s preliminary final, with the winner to go up against Robin Hood in the grand final on September 13.
