Local sports stories from around the western suburbs you may have missed this week
Football: VAFA
The quirks of the VAFA division 4 finals system have proven a disaster for Westbourne Grammarians and Point Cook. The second and third-ranked finalists were eliminated in one-and-done fashion through a top-six system that strangely only provides the safety blanket of a double chance for the first-ranked side. The Warriors and Bulldogs suffered shock losses to Parkside and Box Hill North respectively in the first week of the finals, leaving them susceptible to sudden death if top-ranked Canterbury lost – which it did. As the two lowest-ranked losers, Grammarians and Point Cook waved goodbye to the finals, despite having far superior records over 18 rounds than three of the four sides left in the race.
Netball
Werribee Centrals have moved directly through to the GDFL A-grade netball grand final after staving off a late fight-back from Thomson in a 37-29 major semi-final win at St Albans Reserve on Saturday. The Centurions made a flying start, out-scoring their opposition 22-9 in the first half, but Thomson made a game of it late on. Ellie Tubbs led the Centurions’ scoring with 27 goals. The Centurions will face the winner of the preliminary final between Thomson and Inverleigh.
Rugby league
Werribee Bears had to take the long route to the NRL Victoria first-grade season decider but they eventually got there. The Bears got the better of South Eastern Titans 26-18 in the preliminary final at Langama Park on Saturday to make their first top-tier grand final since the club was established in 2008. The Bears will take on Casey Warriors in the grand final. The Warriors upset the Bears in a semi-final two weeks ago.
Athletics
Allan Cook has finished seventh out of 10 competitors in the men’s 800 metres masters final at the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Beijing. Cook, who competes for Western Athletics, ran a time of 2:05.59 to finish a touch under five seconds behind the winner, David Heath of Great Britain. Morgan Mitchell ran alongside Anneliese Rubie, Jess Gulli and Lauren Wells for Australia in the 4×400 metres relay, placing sixth and missing out on the final.
Lacrosse
Footscray has qualified for its third consecutive Lacrosse Victoria men’s state league grand final – it will be an all western suburbs affair against Williamstown. The Bulldogs moved through to the season decider with a 14-8 win over Malvern in the preliminary final at Mont Albert Reserve on Saturday. Peter Kwas was outstanding with six goals for the Dogs.
Soccer
Maribyrnong Swifts had an outrageous 9-0 win over Castlemaine Goldfields in the women’s state league 3 west at Johnson Reserve on Sunday. Seven different players got on the scoresheet for the Swifts, including two each to Matilda Myers and Belinda Huynh. Despite the huge win, the Swifts finished the season in seventh place. Yarraville Glory capped a great season with a 2-1 win over Lara to finish second.
