Twelve rounds down, six to go. That’s the state of play in Tallangatta league netball, as Dederang-Mount Beauty’s A grade netball squad are within reach of a second successive finals appearance courtesy of a 55-28 win at home against Rutherglen last Saturday. While they had a sluggish opening quarter in their previous outing, the finals-bound Bombers had no such trouble against the Cats. The 17-5 and 32-9 scorelines after the opening two quarters meant that the game was effectively over, which gave DMB the chance to experiment with strategy and personnel in the second half. A grade coach Alex Dyde said changing it up was always part of the plan. “We tried some new combinations which was a great learning opportunity, some worked and some didn’t, so it’s nice to have the security of a comfortable win to test these things,” she said. “Defensively, the girls worked really hard to create lots of opportunities for the attacking end to try some new things.” “We will use next week as an opportunity to keep trying some new combos and plays without getting too complacent around taking the win, setting ourselves up now for tougher matches down the track. Another DMB success story that is sitting a level below – or above, in terms of ladder position - is the club’s B grade netball side, who are currently in third place on the league ladder. It promises to be a thrilling conclusion to the season, with four teams all equal on eight wins, but only three teams can progress to Sandy Creek in eight weeks’ time. In senior football, Dederang-Mount Beauty has tasted defeat at home by 157 points. Rutherglen, who are well and truly in the hunt for finals in seventh spot after their own struggles in recent seasons, lead comfortably from start to finish in their 26.17 (173) to 2.4 (16) victory. For the Bombers, Trent Barton and captain Jacob Ozolins were the two goal scorers, while Matt Paddle, Emerson Lemkau and Josh Goznik battled manfully for four quarters despite the result. A rare chance for a senior netball and football double could come this Saturday as Dederang-Mount Beauty travel to Wahgunyah to take on the Lions.
