OMG – I have never been involved in such an intense game of Netball in my life. Wow, I cannot believe we are heading off to Brissy again this weekend, but this time we are going to play in the GRAND FINALS!

We started a little slow allowing the Lynx to score three goals before we got our first on the board, but that was the biggest lead they ever had then for the remainder of the game. Both teams went goal for goal. The Lynx had the advantage with the centre pass so they always seemed to be one goal up or even, but it would then be their centre pass. I think we were deadlocked at 2 of the breaks and it seemed as though one team would get a little bit of a run on, but then the other team would fight back and it would be goal for goal again!

It really wasn’t until the last quarter that we got the advantage. We dug deep and fought for everything, giving it everything we had and knowing that we could really do this if we just believed in ourselves and played the quality and inspiring Netty we have been playing this season. We wanted it and we were prepared to give it our all and to leave absolutely nothing in our tanks. We didn’t want to walk off that court knowing that we could have won but didn’t execute.

With only 1 minute left, the scores were even and we had the advantage. We lost possession but fought for it and forced a turnover and got possession back . We got it to our shooters who then converted so we were now up by one goal with approx 40 seconds to go. It was Lynx centre pass and we knew that if they scored this goal, it would go into extra time and we didn’t want that to happen. They got it down to their shooter and our defence worked their butts off to create as much pressure and keep the ball out of the circle for as long as they could in hope that the time would run out. The Lynx shooter got the pass and took the shot…. and missed! We then made sure of every pass bringing it down to our end as we were not going to let them have the ball and score. This was our prelim final that we had battled for and we were not going to give up our grand final debut that we deserved. We got the ball down to our shooter and as Jack was taking the shot, the full time siren went and time was called. It finish the dream off, Jack’s long range shot went straight through the ring, nothing but net and we ended up winning by 2.

I honestly have never been involved in such an amazing team, or group of girls. We won that game, not because we were the better team (even though we believe we were), but because we wanted so badly to do it for each other, our supporters and the CQ community that has gotten right behind us. We were prepared to fight until that last second and we did and that’s why the CQ Claws are now heading into the GRAND FINAL! It’s so great to be a CLAW!