It was Orange City’s effort in the first half of Saturday’s Orange Netball Association Toyota Cup grand final which allowed them to continue its unprecedented run of success, sealing a 10th straight premiership win.
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The nine-time defending champions established a 28-21 lead at half-time at Sir Neville Howse Stadium and then managed to hold off a determined Hawks Royal in the final two quarters to score a 57-49 victory in front of a vocal crowd.
After seeing her team lift the trophy for the 10th time, Orange City coach Cindy Gilchrist said one emotion stood out for her.
“Relieved,” she smiled.
“There’s a lot of pressure on the 10th year. As much as we tried not to think about it, there was a lot of pressure.”
It was Orange Ctiy’s experience which allowed them to remain focused in the decider, especially when Hawks kept coming back at them.
“It was never going to be an easy game,” Gilchrist said.
“Hawks have this innate ability to be able to come back and turn things around really, really quickly.”
The platform was laid in the first half with Orange City up 15-11 after the first quarter and then 28-21 at the main break.
Hawks were able to tighten things up in the third period and only allowed City to extend its lead by one more goal.
It was level pegging in the final period with both sides scoring 16 goals each.
“I always knew we had to set it up going into the second half to be able to maintain that lead,” Gilchirst said.
The Orange City coach said what stood out to her in Saturday’s contest was the talent on the court and what it means for the future of netball in Orange.
“The ability of Orange netball to keep turning out young stars like they are, and the calibre of players that we’ve got, it outstanding,” Gilchrist said.
“Our young guns… Caitlyn Harvey was amazing when she came on at goalkeeper and injected new life into the game. Her rebounding, she just played out of her skin today.
“Cheynoah Merchant, goal defence, she’s 16, amazing. Milly Wilcox is our most valued player ever. She’s a little pot of gold. We just love her and she’s amazing. She’s a very strong 14-year-old, mentally and physically. We learnt that about her in the grand final last year. She’s very impressive.”
Of course Gilchrist had praise for her more seasoned players in centre and captain Tegan Dray as well as shooter Erin Johnstone.
The coach saved special praise for wing attack and club president Sarah Thorley.
“Sarah would have to be my player of the year,” Gilchrist smiled.
“She’s tenacious. She doesn’t stop. She just pulls things from anywhere.”
