Stirring Tuggeranong win propels young guns to state age championship crown

The Orange Netball Association’s under 13s girls took out the Netball NSW Samsung State Age Championship’s division two crown on Monday.

The young Orange stars won 15 of 18 games to sit level with Wagga Wagga on top of the division two standings at the end of day three, but a superior percentage thanks to netting 70 more goals meant the ONA under 13s outfit was crowned state champions.

Coach Sue Dean said the triumph was just reward for a determined group of young netballers that set its sights on the state age tournament at the start of 2017.

“At the start of the year we all sat down and I asked the girls what their goal was for the season,” Dean said, the side made up of Sophie Banks, Georgia Cornish, Lucy Dean, Megan Eslick, Bonnie Keegan, Holly Board, Ellie Mooney, Caitlin Prestwidge, Hailey Prestwidge and Maddie Thornhill.

“Almost immediately all of them said they wanted to win state age. It was resounding,” she added.

“They're a really beautiful bunch of girls and they all love playing with each other, which I think really helped.”

Dean said the tournament’s opening 17-16 win over Bathurst set up her side’s title run, with just the one loss – a four-goal defeat at the hands of Nambucca Valley – on her side’s record.

“We’ve got such a close rivalry with (Bathurst), being our nearest competitor, we knew we had to start well and we did that and, really, that win really kicked us off,” Dean added.

Then on a massive day two that included seven games, Orange won its first six, most of them emphatically, before dropping the final clash against the Grasshoppers Fiji by a single goal.

The Fijian side was an invitational outfit that couldn’t place at the championships, but Dean said the clash was one the Orange girls will remember – despite losing Georgia Cornish with a broken arm.

“We even gave them some Orange representative socks. The next day we saw the Fijian girls all playing in their Orange socks, the girls got a kick out of that,” Dean said.

With Wagga, Westlakes District and Charlestown associations nipping on Orange’s heels, day three started with a loss against Maitland.

Far from ideal, Dean believes nerves during the opening clash on the final day got the better of her side.

But she said they bounced back in a big way during a 17-14 win over Tuggeranong in the championships’ penultimate game.

“We trailed them early and the heart they showed to get back into the game was incredible. It was a really big moment for the girls,” Dean enthused.

“We went on to beat the Blue Mountains in the final game and when our name was read out as champions the girls were just so excited.

“It was just a great experience. All of the families were there cheering us on.”

Dean said the girls are already looking forward to the challenge of stepping up to the championship division in 2018.

“They’ll learn so much from that top gun level of netball,” she said.