Bushies finish on a high

BEECHWORTH ended their TDNA season on a positive note last Saturday, with the A grade squad clinching a six goal victory over Dederang/Mt Beauty 44-38. With the A grade Bushrangers out of finals contention going into the match, coach and shooter Rachael Cavallin said it was fantastic to end the season with a win. “I think it would’ve been a bit disappointing if we didn’t have that last match to come together and play and know that was it for the year,” she said. “The week before we’ve gone into lockdown we were able to train that Thursday night. “Everyone said their goodbyes, thinking that would be it. “But then I suppose everyone’s become very adaptable, you just get used to the nature of the season, that things change really quickly and I think everyone, once they got their heads back in it, they were really happy that we were going to get that one last game.” The match was neck-and-neck from the start, with both sides entering quarter time with 10 goals on the board. “We knew it would be a really tight tussle for the whole match,” Cavallin said. “I wasn’t shooting very well, I’ll own that, our goals weren’t dropping in that first half. “Credit to their defence, especially their goalkeeper (Lucy Lembke), she had a really strong three feet over the shot, that was making it tricky. “We were doing everything right in terms of getting the ball into the circle, so I guess we knew we had to stick with the game plan and that we’d find out shooting momentum - once that happened, we knew we were doing everything else really well.” The goals started coming after half-time, as the Bushrangers fought back from three goals down to lead the Bombers by three heading into the final quarter. “Probably the most rewarding thing for me as coach was to feel the change and the belief that the girls have now in themselves,” Cavallin said. “At half time and three quarter time, when it was tight, you can really almost sense that everyone knows that we can keep running it out and we can stick it out, back each other and get over the line. “I think that’s been a big mindset shift and culture change for quite a few of our teams across the club this year. “We know that we can come out on top in those tight matches, and we’re not happy to just be competitive anymore, we have high expectations that we deserve to win those games.” The win caps off the season in the A grade after a netball season like no other. “Morale’s been good around the club, despite the up-and-down nature of the season,” Cavallin said. “Everyone’s got along really well, we’ve all been there for each other and supported each other through what’s been another challenging year. “It’s good to finish on a high and then hopefully that will feed through toward next year.”

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