What a way to finish the Maryborough Castlemaine District Football League season off with some Grand Final action! It was a very wet and miserable day at Princes Park but that didn’t stop the Maldon Under 17s Netball Team, and coach Kim Williams, taking home the glory and the trophy!
The game started slow but was soon warmed up with a nail bitter against Royal Park. The Royal Park team had defence that was strong and the goalers were accurate but the pressure and agility in the conditions from the Maldon team prevailed and the brought home a spectacular, well earned win!
Sadly, we didn’t get the Maldon Under 14.5s Football or the Under 15s Netball over the line, but both matches were well played and the spot in the Grand Finals dually earned.
As a club to have any teams in a Grand Final is incredible and why we work so hard all season. Our club is so proud to have been represented by three outstanding junior teams and we want to convey our deepest gratitude and congratulations to the players and coaches for their efforts – it is well earned, well
deserved and we are very proud.
Although the 2022 season has now come to an end, the work for 2023 starts.
The committee would like to express its thanks to our players, coaches, officials, supporters, sponsors and all other stakeholders that were here for our 2022 season, it is with you that our club thrives and we appreciate the commitment and passion you all bring. We look forward to seeing you all return for many more seasons to come and welcome anyone who would like to be a part of the Maldon Football Netball Club.
To conclude our season officially we have our Brownlow Club Vote Count Saturday October 1 at the Maldon FNC Clubrooms to crown our Best and Fairest Players are award achievements for the season that was.
Team report wrap ups were as follows:
Football
Unfortunately, the Maldon Under 14.5s football team fell short 21 to Talbot 31. It wasn’t through lack of effort. We loss the toss and that proved to be the telling factor at the end. Talbot kicked the first four goals in the first quarter. There was a strong breeze and Talbot took advantage of it.
The Maldon team were a little untidy given three of the goals were from free kicks. But to their credit they kept fighting and won the next three quarters, keeping Talbot goalless for those three quarters. Some costly mistakes in front of goal and injuries seeing the side fall short.
A massive thanks to Brian Kelly for getting Izaak Mason up to play as he had dislocated his growth plate and couldn’t walk 10 days earlier, unfortunately Izaak had to come off the ground with a quarter to play it’s a credit to Izaak for playing three quarters and playing well. Thank you to all the supporters that turned up apparently, we had the best cheer squad in the stands.
Big thank you to Anita Mason who worked tirelessly throughout the season, your efforts did not go unnoticed we were so lucky to have you as a team manager. Thanks also goes to Shaun Burchell and
Ben Doyle. The team will be back bigger and stronger next year.
Netball
The Maldon 17 and Under netballers hit the court running in the first quarter with goals hard to come by as the Rovers and Maldon team were well matched the score at the first change was Maldon 4 – Rovers 3.
The second quarter saw Maldon come out firing and they were able to capitalise on their intercepts holding Rovers goalless in the second quarter to take a lead at the half time break 8- 3.
The last couple of quarters were evenly matched with the teams going goal for goal. The last couple of minutes of the game Rovers were able to get some great intercepts but as they had all game the defence for Maldon held strong. The end result Maldon 17 def Rovers 15 to be the premiers for 2022.
With a Best on Court from Claire Hamilton it capped off an extremely rewarding year for the U17 team who only had four players at the start of the 2022 season. To become the winners bringing home the cup for Maldon Football Netball Club was an outstanding and unbelievable result.
The Maldon 15 and Under netball team took to the court on Saturday in their grand final with conditions treacherous with the wind blowing, rain sheeting in and the temperature bitterly cold it was not ideal for the junior girls.
The team were able to take the first centre and were able to put a score on the board straight away. With the conditions deteriorating the team struggled from there to put another score on the board for the first quarter and the ball sailed up and down the court with both teams having their challenges with the weather. The Harcourt team were able to convert their centres and the Maldon young ladies battled on in the wet and cold conditions.
The end result Harcourt 33 defeated Maldon 10. However, the score did not reflect the closeness of the game as the team tried right to final whistle. An excellent year for a team newly formed and with all girls never playing in finals let alone a grand final they did the club proud.