A SHORT Anzac Day service at Mypolonga preceded commencement of play at midday on damp courts in what was to be an intense clash between the top two sides in the River Murray Netball Association.
Initially the leads were short with precise passing, with some unconverted turnovers.
Mypolonga’s wing attack, Cass Rathjen, fed brilliantly into the goalers with Meagan Gillespie moving well and converting, as too did Mannum’s Katrina Reschke.
At the first break Mypolonga led 13-10.
The second term saw Mypo’s Gillespie shooting accurately.
Mannum’s goal shooter Reschke and Cassie Martin (defender for Mypo) provided great contests at ball.
The defence of Martin and Sheridan O’Brien made the Mannum goalers pass several times before putting shots up.
Mannum’s Amy Loechel switched from goal attack to goal shooter and converted well.
Half time saw Mypo up by four goals, 27 to 23.
Mannum bought fresh legs into wing attack with young Deanna Smith, as did Mypo-longa with Renae Jachmann into wing defence, who both provided some great contests.
Mypo’s Courtney Blacker moved into centre, creating drive through the mid court, ably assisted by O’Brien who attacked down the court.
Sharmon Banks (goal attack for Mypo) stopped Tracey Loechel (goal defence for Mannum) from driving down the court.
At the final break the score was still four the difference - Mypo 40 goals to Mannum’s 36.
The final term saw Mypo play a more open game with O’Brien and Martin rebounding well and turning the ball over frequently.
Mypolonga dominated the quarter with Gillespie and Banks moving well and shooting accurately to give the Tigers a 16 goal win, 56 to 40.
Best - Mypolonga: Meagan Gillespie, Sheridan O’Brien. Mannum: Katrina Reschke, Tracy Loechel.
A reserves
The game on Anzac Day started very evenly.
Mypolonga wing attack Kelly Allen and centre Gretchen Schubert were feeding well into their goalers Kara Bolt and Tanya Clothier.
Mannum’s goalers Andrea Wegner (GS) and Sandra Hermann (GA) were on fire.
Mypolonga’s goal defence Karly Dabinett and goal keeper Hayley Davids had strong hands and intercepted numerous times, making Mannum accountable for loose passes.
At quarter time Mannum led by two.
Mannum started second quarter strong they continued to feed well into Hermann and Wegener who had an obvious height advantage.
At half time it was Mypo 22, Mannum 28.
Mannum was capitalising on Mypolonga’s errors and was too strong, going into the three quarter time break up by 14 goals
Mypolonga started strong in the last quarter with great defence by Dabinett and Clothier.
Altmann, who is still eligible to play under 15s, came out to goal attack and combined well in this last quarter with the more experienced shooter Bolt.
Mannum had worked the ring well all game and with strong passes and accurate shooting went on to win by 16 goals 53 to 37.
Best - Mypolonga: Kara Bolt, Tanya Clothier. Mannum: sandra Herrmann, Renae Wakefield.
B grade
Brooke Kruger and Donna Morris defended well, as did Krystal Owen and Elise Rudiger.
The first break saw Mypo 15 to Mannum 4.
Mannum made a change in Kirsty Snyders (WA) and Kim Smithson (C).
Mypo did not capitalise on opportunities.
At half time the score was Mypo 28 to Mannum 14.
Mypo made changes with Kate Frahn into wing attack and Elle McAlister (WD), Jo Carman (C) and Sam Allen came on in goal defence.
At three quarter time the score was Mypo 41 to Mannum 19.
Mypo was determined to come home strong, winning by 33 goals, 56-23.
Best - Mypolonga: Brooke Kruger, Elle McAlister. Mannum: Sue Egmanis, Elise Rudiger.
C grade
Both teams started strongly with each team taking advantage of their own centre pass.
Mannum’s strong defence forced Mypolonga into poor passing and Mannum’s Talia Cornelius (GD) dominated with strong interceptions.
At the end of the first quarter the score was Mypolonga 4 to Mannum 15.
Mypo’s Meagan Wynne and Hayley Sumner continually tried hard in defence with Tamara Fiegert (WD) supporting them around the ring.
At half time score was Mypolonga 12 to Mannum 26.
Positional changes at half time lead to teams needing to resettle.
Mannum centre Sarah Maloney placed lots of pressure on Mypo through the mid court.
Mannum continued to widen the gap.
Karlee Burton’s movement in the goals and Amity Garland’s feeding allowed Mypo to reduce the lead.
Mannum ran out winners by 16 goals, 47-31.
Best - Mypolonga: Meagan Wynne, Karlee Burton. Mann-um: Sarah Maloney, Talia Cornelius.
17 and under
Mypolonga dominated this match early, adjusting well to the wet and slippery conditions by playing short, steady and direct netball.
The new Mypolonga goaler combination of Sophie Hill and Stacey Kempe was working well, with both players converting and moving well in the circle.
Mannum made a lot of changes going into the second half of the match and this improved their score.
Some good high balls were given into Cassandra Buscombe in the goal circle, which helped to make Mannum’s score more respectable.
Mypo continued their strong play all over the court and managed to string together four strong quarters of netball to take out the game convincingly.
The final score was Mypolonga 49, Mannum 17. Best - Mypo: Jade Nettle, Mannum: Cassandra Buscombe.
15 and under div one
Mypo got off to a nervous start with Mannum controlling all the play in the first quarter.
At quarter time the score was Mypo 3 to Mannum 11.
The second quarter saw Mypo fighting hard to stay in the game, but once again Mannum’s height and skill proved too strong.
At half time the score was Mypo 8 to Mannum 21.
The third quarter saw Mypo make a few changes in their line up with all girls trying their best.
Mannum, however, played with strength and determination and once again proved difficult for Mypo.
The final score was Mypo 19 to Mannum 34.
Best - Mypolonga: Emily Frahn, Emma Kluske. Mannum: Shannon Rosenzweig, Annabel Rudiger.
15 and under div two
Game play was tight in the first quarter in wet conditions.
Accurate shooting from Mannum’s Karina Harris and Ashleigh Mobbs saw their conversion rate in the high 80 per cent range.
Mypo’s goalers Annalisa Mertin and Caitlin Morris worked well with the first quarter scores being Mypo 5 to Mannum 7.
The second quarter again saw tight play with Mannum increasing their lead 12-9.
Mypo dominated in attack and defence in the third quarter, limiting Mannum to only one goal to Mypo’s 9.
At three quarter time scores were Mypo 18 to Mannum 13.
The last quarter saw Mannum outscore Mypolonga by one, but Mypo held their lead to win the day 21 to 17.
Best - Mypolonga: Emma Richardson, Lauren Howson. Mannum: Karina Harris, Tamika O’Malley.
13 and under div one
Rebecca Longden, Katelyn Ludewigs and Sophie Ansell were proving their defensive ability for Mypolonga, causing many turnovers.
Kate Woolard in goal attack moved well in goals for Mannum.
Mypolonga made positional changes to advance their lead at three quarter time, 17-8.
Ruby Adams came on for Mannum at centre, providing drive down the court.
Steady rain throughout the game made for difficult conditions, as Mypolonga ran out winners 26-12.
Best - Mypolonga: Sophie Ansell, Victoria Hughes. Mannum: Kate Woolard, Alana Woods.
13 and under div two
Mannum won the toss and opted to pass, however tight defence by Mypo’s Michaela Zadow and Victoria Hughes forced a turnover and Mypolonga scored first.
Tara Yeates, centre for Mannum, was a force through the midcourt, and teamed with wing defence Holly Modra, made Mypo fight hard for possession.
A great contest with Mypo’s Stacey Hein (WD) and Mannum’s Rebecca VanEldik (WA) saw Hein turn the ball over with many interceptions.
Mypo’s goal shooter Crystal Kluske proved very accurate, allowing Mypo to lead at quarter time 10-4.
Mypo’s strong defence created many turnovers and Mannum had to work very hard to force the ball into their goalers.
In the third quarter Sophie Kroehn, for Mannum, moved to goal attack and with good positioning accelerated Mannum’s attack.
Lucy Pett, wing attack for Mypo, offered well-timed leads through the centre and fed the ball into Mypo’s goalers.
In the final quarter both teams had an unsettled start after Mannum made some changes.
Katelyn Ludewigs, for Mypo, worked effectively in defence and Stephanie Hagger, goal shooter for Mypo, moved well in the goal circle to gain possession and put up some points.
Mypo positioned well and had a lot of possession yet Mannum’s defence made them work hard right to the end.
Mypolonga ran out winners 39-14.
Best - Mypolonga: Stacey Hein, Stephanie Hagger. Mannum: Tara Yeates, Sophie Kroehn.
11 and under
The game started with both teams defending strongly. Tayla Kempe (Mypo) and Kayla Robinson (Mannum) were having a good battle in the centre.
Mannum goalers Kelsey Chadwick and Sophie Bruhn were shooting well to give Mannum the lead.
Mypolonga came back well to end the first quarter even at five-all.
Inaccurate passing was letting Mypo down with Mannum capitalising on their mistakes.
Amy Richardson was working hard in defence with Mypolonga coming back to be one down at half time.
Mannum started the third quarter with attacking netball scoring the first three goals without Mypolonga achieving a goal.
Tayla Kempe managed to score a goal as the prevailing winds picked up.
The final score was Mannum 19 to Mypolonga 16.
Best - Mypolonga: Tori O’Loughlin, Amy Richardson. Mannum: Kelsey Chadwick, Kayla Robinson.
Minis
Mannum started well with some accurate passing which allowed goal attack Zara Male and goal shooter Rhiannon Yeates many tries for goal.
At first quarter Mannum was up 2-0.
The combination of goal shooter Aimee Kelly and goal attack Chelsea Hagger for Mypo gained them two goals in this quarter.
Nikayla Clark (GK) tried very hard for Mannum, making many rebounds.
The majority of the second half saw the ball mainly in the mid court, with a good tussle between the two centres Hannah Elliott and Erika Mullins.
Akala Frahn made effective leads for Mypo in whichever position she was in.
Mannum led well in the final quarter, eventuating in another goal with the final score being 2-4, Mannum’s way.