By Callum Ludwig
All four of Seville’s senior netball sides were competing in the Grand Final on Friday 23 September.
A Grade’s game was the pick of the bunch, sealing the flag with a last-minute winner to bring home their first A Grade flag since 2016 and their first in Division One.
D Grade began the day’s play with the first of three clashes with Berwick at 10.10am, but was comfortably defeated. A close first half saw the Blues only 3 points behind at the main break, but Berwick asserted themselves in the third quarter to eventually come home with a 9-point win 24-15 at the final siren.
Genesis Foster-Jonassen, Jayde Rait and Alysha Toner were Seville’s best on the day, with goals coming from Foster-Jonassen 7, Hannah Ray 6 and Corinne Tesselaar 2.
C Grade’s 11.30am fixture saw the only Seville side not facing a Berwick outfit, and they successfully defeated their opponents Gembrook-Cockatoo 36-29.
An even first quarter saw scores tied, before Seville slowly extended their lead from then on, to 5 and 9 points at each respective break before finishing 7-point winners.
Seville’s C Grade league best and fairest winner Tarsha Collette was at the forefront once again, finishing among the best players and scoring 17 goals in the win.
Georgie Brisbane and Alice Nicholas were the other best players, while Rebecca Groen scored 19 goals.
A Grade was up next at 1pm to avoid a conflicting schedule with Senior Football.
It was a true end-to-end battle of clinical goalscorers, with Seville’s pair of Ella Morse and Hayley Ray finishing all their chances while Berwick’s captain Emma Clarke did the same at the other end.
Tied at quarter time, Berwick up by a point at halftime and Seville by 2 at the final change, the game was going down to the wire. Seville held a game-high lead of 7 points earlier in the game before Berwick mounted their comeback and with only minutes left on the clock, the scores were tied at 43 apiece. Nerves truly set him and passes were being intercepted left, right and centre, with neither team able to hold on to the ball and get a meaningful shot off until Ella Morse received the ball centrally inside in the goal circle and converted with less than a minute left. Seville held on for a famous victory!
Ella Morse said the scenes were unreal after making the shot.
“As I shot it I was just thinking ‘This better go in’, and now we can celebrate with drinks tonight and a big weekend ahead,” she said.
Morse and Ray finished with 23 and 21 goals respectively.
Seville Wing Defence Emily Wicks said the win will create lifelong friendships and memories.
“I feel very proud of the team, we definitely worked hard for it. We are super lucky to be part of such a club and such a group of girls that were able to stay true to ourselves and get across the line,” she said.
Luiza Sulemani had the unenviable task of helping limit Clarke’s influence and received best on court for her efforts while Seville’s captain Ella Bayliss and Cleo Minney were also in the best for their efforts through the mid-court.
Berwick A Grade Coach Chloe Phillips said it was incredibly hard to go down in the final minute.
“Well played to Seville they were great all year, and to my girls it was pretty shattering not to get across the line but you should be so proud of what you put out there today, especially coming back from seven goals down,” she said.
Seville A Grade Coach Alex Bergamin said her players should enjoy the win and that it was a real credit to the club.
“We’ve got lots of experience through the midcourt, and boy did they shine today, really led well from the front. Defensively, Erin and Luiza had an absolute cracker, couldn’t ask for anything more as well,” she said.
B Grade rounded off the day’s netball in their 2.45pm clash with Berwick and managed to secure Seville’s third premiership with a strong 58-39 victory.
Berwick got off to a fast start to lead by 2 points at quarter time, before a massive 16-point response in the second quarter from the Blues had them leading by 7 at halftime. Seville only extended their lead from that point in the game, up by 12 points at the final break and 19 by the time the siren sounded.
Captain Alanna Lennie and Alexis Tucker were the top performers, with Lennie scoring 32, Lauren Fletcher scoring 24 and Cailey Nolan chipping in with 2.
