By Anne-Marie Ebbels
It was a grand final match for the Women’s football team played under lights at Upwey.
Upwey-Tecoma were dominant last season, so this game was going to be a real test for Healesville given their recent wins.
The Healesville team consists of nearly half its players having come up through the local junior competition in recent years which support the inaugural members of the women’s team to keep them at the top of the competition.
They came out on top by a mere four points in what was a tightly contested, low-scoring affair.
In the Senior men’s football, Healesville took on a buoyant Belgrave who were coming off their first win in over three years.
Healesville were dominant in the first quarter in the drizzly conditions but didn’t capitalise on the scoreboard with some wayward kicking.
The second and third quarters saw them make their mark on the scoreboard and went into the final break with a 49 point lead.
Healesville continued to pepper the scoreboard in the final quarter kicking two goals and ten points to run out eventual winners by 56 points.
The Reserves also struggled to make the most of their opportunities in front of goal in the first quarter with eight scoring shots to three, but Healesville couldn’t kick it through the middle to score a goal.
The second quarter saw Healesville gain some accuracy in their kicking with Nick Gilbee slotting through 5 goals to set up a 26 point lead at the main break.
Belgrave came out after the break and kept Healesville goalless in the third quarter to close the gap to a 5 point lead to Healesville.
The final quarter saw Belgrave overrun the Healesville team, leaving them to rue their inaccurate kicking.
The Healesville netball teams were in for a tough day against one of the stronger clubs in Division 1.
A D Grade team was fielded for the first time in 2023, Healesville got off to a slow start as the team found their way.
The second half saw a stronger performance by Healesville with a tighter defensive game reducing Belgrave’s scoring opportunities.
Belgrave were the eventual winners by 26 goals.
With a couple of players backing up from D Grade, the C Grade team took to the court with a tight low scoring first quarter.
Belgrave came out in the second quarter and didn’t give Healesville any opportunity to score.
Healesville worked hard in the second half, but the damage had been done with Belgrave winners by 36 goals.
In the B Grade game, Belgrave dominated the possession and made it hard for the Healesville team to score.
Belgrave lead at every change and ran out winners by 59 goals.
In the final netball game, A Grade took on a strong Belgrave side who got the score on the board early which meant Healesville were continually chasing centre pass breaks.
A strong defensive effort after quarter time saw Healesville stem Belgrave’s scoring, but they couldn’t make inroads into Belgrave’s lead eventually losing by 35 goals.
Next week all teams are playing at home for the first time this season, so get behind the club and come down and support the Healesville teams.
Football
Women Seniors Healesville 4.7 defeated Upwey-Tecoma 4.3 Best S Morris, M Schelfhout, I Stock, S Potter, C Wilsmore, D Carrucan
Men Seniors Healesville 15.18 defeated Belgrave 7.10 Best J Bates, M Donegan, S Gebert, T Sund, L Oliver, S Donkin
Men Reserves Healesville 8.14 defeated by Belgrave 8.9 Best N Gilbee, E Muke, D Ebbels, R Hargreaves, J Schutz, M Moreton
Netball
A Grade Healesville 24 defeated by Belgrave 59 Best R Thompson, J Milne, B Erickson
B Grade Healesville 18 defeated by Belgrave 77 Best A McMaster, H Blackney, Z Boundy
C Grade Healesville 5 defeated by Belgrave 41 Best C Haywood, T Pinkster, T Nixon
D Grade Healesville 5 defeated by Belgrave 31 Best T Hird, S Aloi, H Douglas-Smith
