Woodend-Hesket was able to hold off a determined Macedon side to claim the first spot in the Riddell District Netball League grand final.
The Hawks were aiming to make their fourth straight grand final in the semi final against the Cats, while the Cats were aiming for their first grand final since 2019.
Hawks coach Ty Coppinger said it’s super exciting for the team and club to be back in the final game of the year.
“We’re all over the moon with today’s [Saturday’s] result,” she said. “It doesn’t come easy.
“We knew what we were capable of but certainly a season of hard work.
“Over the last two weeks we’ve been challenged and been pushed and we knew it wouldn’t come easy, but I had full faith in the girls and knew what we could put out.
“It’s actually nice to know we’re able to do that and book a spot in the grand final.”
Coppinger said looking at the weather during the week they were expecting some pretty tough conditions for the semi final.
Luckily for both sides, the rain stayed away and the weather didn’t impact how the game was played.
Not much separated the two sides all day.
It was the Cats who led by one goal at quarter time and then the Hawks but that margin at half time.
It was out to three goals.
The Hawks, who were without star shooter Rebecca Hicks, were able to stay composed in the final quarter to win, 33-29.
Coppinger said she wasn’t surprised that the match went down to the wire.
“Macedon is playing some really good netball at this point of the season,” she said.
“They proved that today [Saturday] and they really pushed us for the whole 60 minutes.
“They’ve got a quality side there, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy at any point, that we would really have to work for every ball and every minute that we were out there.”
Coppinger said the two sides traded the lead throughout the match and they just stuck to what they needed to do.
“We just focused on each quarter as it came and refocused on what we needed to do,” she said.
“Everyone played their role at each point of the game, Hayley’s [Rogers] defensive pressure again was amazing.
“Our attack end just had so much patience throughout the whole game, especially in that last quarter they were able to stay composed and work together was really amazing.”
The Hawks now have the week off before the grand final.
Macedon will play Riddell in a preliminary final on Saturday.
Coppinger said having had the week off previously before the grand final that it does help.
“We’ll focus on ourselves in the next seven days on what we need to do and wait until next Saturday and see who we face and go from there,” she said.
“What does that mean and what does it look like? There’s still a lot to be done in the next week and hopefully we take it both hands and do the best that we can.”
