By Tara Murray
Rupertswood turned the tables on Macedon to claim a fifth straight Riddell District Netball League B-grade premiership.
The Cats upset the Sharks earlier in the finals series and were the first team through to the grand final and looked like they may have been able to end the Sharks winning streak.
With their title as the top team at risk, the Sharks found another level in the grand final on Sunday.
The win was never in doubt for the Sharks, who won 45-25.
Sharks coach Di McCormack said the playing group was keen to get one back against Macedon.
“We came out with a specific plan and worked to it,” she said. “The girls executed the plan to perfection, you’re always going to have an error or mistake happen, because opposition are the unknown.”
“You couldn’t ask more from Lucy [Batina]. She stepped it up a notch.
“Our defensive end was fantastic against those goalers. They were actually worried about them coming into this game as they are so fast, we went off our game plan to match it up against their goalers and I actually think it worked really well.”
McCormack said Em Ktona, who had rolled her ankle in the under-19 game, and Georgia Hellyer, who was best on court, excelled in the mid court.
She said the most pleasing thing was that despite their youth, the team continued to excel.
“It’s five years in a row and I think this team has lost about three games in five years.
“I think Lucy would be the oldest at 23.
“The 20-goal win was a surprise for us, I thought it would be a lot closer, but it came down to our execution.”
The premiership was the Sharks third for they day and 15th in the last five years.
McCormack paid tribute to Leanne Murphy who made sure the netball program continued this year.
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