By Anne-Marie Ebbels
The Men’s football and netball made the trek to Officer this week while the Women headed to Olinda for their final home and away game.
The Veterans played their elimination semi-final at home.
The Veterans took on Narre Warren in their semi-final for a chance to defend their title in two weeks, the first quarter was a tight tussle with Narre Warren getting the only major on the board for the quarter and went into quarter time with a seven-point lead.
The second quarter was even with both teams kicking two goals.
Narre Warren came out after half time and dominated the third quarter keeping Healesville goalless in the third quarter to extend their lead to 24 points.
Healesville hit back in the final quarter with two quick goals bringing the margin back to 12 points halfway through the final quarter.
Narre Warren then hit back with a goal which squashed Healesville momentum and Narre Warren booked themselves a grand final berth against Gembrook-Cockatoo.
The Women played Olinda-Ferny Creek in what was likely to be the match-up for their first final. Healesville dominated the first quarter with six goals to zero and went into quarter time with a 33-point lead.
A steady second quarter meant Healesville went into the main break with a 37-point lead. Olinda came out in the third quarter and took it up to Healesville reducing their lead to 24 points at three-quarter time.
Olinda continued the pressure and Healesville withstood the comeback to win by 19 points to go through the season undefeated.
Next week they start their final campaign at home against Olinda-Ferny Creek in the elimination semi-final.
It is a tough assignment playing the big suburban clubs for the netball teams this week.
The blustery conditions made shooting difficult with the ball being blown off course when the gusts came through.
ROC came out hard in the first quarter in the A Grade game and Healesville were left to play catch up throughout the game.
The tall and strong defence from ROC made converting the opportunities for Healesville difficult. ROC ran out winners by 52 goals.
Another unsettled week in the B Grade team with playing having to play out of position to cover for injuries meant Healesville struggled to gain any momentum in the game.
ROC were a class above this week and were big winners by 79 goals.
In C Grade, Healesville started well, but ROC came out hard in the second quarter and made it difficult for Healesville to score.
ROC continued to apply the pressure in the second half running out winners by 47 goals.
Similar to the other grades, D Grade struggled to match the speed of the ROC team initially.
The second half Healesville managed to peg back the ROC, but the damage had been done in the in the first half with ROC winning by 32 goals.
In the Senior Men’s game, it was goal for goal in the first quarter with both teams scoring four goals and Healesville went into the first break with a slight advantage.
Officer made the most of the wind in the second quarter and kept Healesville goalless to go into the half time break 19 points up.
In the third quarter Healesville didn’t make the most of their scoring opportunities and Officer increased their lead to 28 points at the final break.
The final quarter was much the same with Healesville being under pressure in front of goal and failed to capitalise on their opportunities albeit into the wind.
Officer ran out winners by 35 points.
The Reserve game highlighted the disparity in the league between the suburban and small-town teams with the Officer team being too strong for the Healesville team.
While Healesville put in a four-quarter effort, they couldn’t make any in roads on the scoreboard and Officer ran out big winners by 179 points.
This week is the final home game for the season with netball starting at 11:30am and football at 12:10pm against Hallam.
On Sunday, Healesville hosting four women’s elimination semi-finals with the action starting at 9:30am.
Football
Veterans Healesville 31 defeated by Narre Warren 54 Best: J Thomas, G Newing, H Lamaro, C Adams, M Hay, G Thompson
Senior Men Healesville 42 defeated by Officer 77 Best: N Mende, L Oliver, L Daly, Z Fawdry, T Amarant, M Jones
Reserves Healesville 15 defeated by Officer 194 Best: J Draper, B Harvy, L English, B Mole, P Houlihan, J Lightbound
Senior Women Healesville 52 defeated Olinda-Ferny Creek 33 Best: E Cianci, S Potter, P Bryon, C Wilsmore, D Jones, P Pavic
Netball
A Grade Healesville 14 defeated by ROC 66 Best: K Farrow, R Thompson, J Agnew
B Grade Healesville 8 defeated by ROC 87 Best: C Haywood, A McMaster
C Grade Healesville 9 defeated by ROC 56 Best: E Cameron, T Pinkster, S Maile
D Grade Healesville 13 defeated by ROC 45 Best: R Beaumont, E Birch
