Coach Danielle Hanson admitted she let out ‘a massive sigh of relief’ when the final whistle sounded, after the Roos had come back from a five-goal quarter-time deficit to take the lead in the last quarter.
“Any longer and they might’ve had us, because it was just goal for goal in that last quarter. They really evened it out,” she said.
“We knew it was going to be a tough match from the start – we knew they’d come out firing because we both had a chance to make finals, so winning that game was a must for both of us.
“As you can see, there wasn’t much between us on the day.”
Hanson described the game as a defensive battle, with co-captain Beth Sudholz and Keeta Scown excelling at goal defence and goal keeper.
“Beth stands out every week, and she’s really good at reading the play outside the ring, so she picks off a few intercepts, which is really great,” Hanson said.
“Her and Keeta have really started gelling well together in the second half of the season.
“I had Eb Rintoule, who is our other defender, on the bench all day unfortunately. I couldn’t get her on with the way Beth and Keeta were playing.”
Another key for the Rams was goalie Emma Uebergang, who took only 23 shots for the game but made 19 of them.
“Especially in that second half, no matter where she was she’d turn and shoot, and most of them would swish in,” Hanson said.
“She’s only 16 or 17, and she didn’t show any nerves whatsoever – she held her head and did really well in the second half.”
Natimuk United has a bye this weekend, and will face a daunting task against Edenhope-Apsley in the final round.
While the Rams’ finals chances are likely to hinge on the results of other teams, Hanson said a close finals race was good for league spectators.
“It might actually come down to the Pimpinio and Kaniva-Leeor game in the last round,” she said.
“We might need to rely on Pimpinio winning and then it’s going to come down to percentage, so it’s going to be down to the wire, that’s for sure.”
Elsewhere on Saturday Kalkee beat Kaniva-Leeor United 50-40, with
Tamika Mentha leading the way in
the midcourt and Emily Polack continuing an outstanding season in defence.
The beaten Cougars’ best players were Zoe Hawker and Ellen Bennett, who each spent a half at centre.
Kaniva-Leeor United now trails Natimuk United by two games, but has the best percentage of any of the four teams vying for fifth place.
The Cougars must win their final two games against Taylors Lake and Pimpinio to give themselves a chance of playing finals.
The Lakers will be full of confidence however, after beating Rupanyup 57-42 at the weekend.
Led by Zoe Gray, Madison Scott and a 32-goal haul from Tayla Eltze, Taylors Lake earned its second win of the season in convincing fashion.
Best for Rupanyup was goalie Phoebe Downer with 25 conversions.
Edenhope-Apsley was far too strong for Swifts at Edenhope, winning 66-18.
Hannah Magasanik excelled in the midcourt before switching to goal attack in the last quarter, scoring six goals, while coach Lavinia Fox was the spearhead in attack with 47 scores in the absence of Dee Dee Lambert.
This weekend the Saints will travel to play Harrow-Balmoral while the Baggies will host Laharum.
Noradjuha-Quantong and Kalkee will meet in a top-four clash at Quantong, the Cougars host the Lakers and Pimpinio is on the road against Rupanyup.
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