The Forbes open representative team has finished third behind Orange and Bathurst in their return to Division 1 netball in the Netball NSW Hart West/Central West Regional League last weekend.
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Forbes has not competed in the division 1 of the competition for many years, and all players stepped up their intensity and speed to take on the big associations of Orange, Bathurst and Dubbo.
The Forbes team has been troubled with injuries from the very first game in the competition, and all players have coped with positional changes, and have kept the team very competitive for all their games.
Forbes took on second placed Bathurst in the semi-final on Sunday.
An early injury to Forbes centre Shannon Hurley, saw Hannah Mattiske take on the position, in her first game in the competition as centre.
The young players in the team, Hannah and Ellie Flick, have stepped up with huge improvement in all areas of their game.
Once again the Forbes defence circle of Nicole Mee and Kate Loneragan showed why they are one of the best circle defence team in the competition, intercepting many passes. Forbes took a lead early in the game and lead by 33-28 at half time.
Wing attack Nat Carthew showed her skill in controlling the feeding into the shooters, Ellie Flick and Chloe Madden, who were both shooting very accurately.
At three quarter time, Bathurst had taken the lead by 48-46, with both teams going goal for goal.
Wing attack Mel Cowhan created space and passed with great understanding to the shooters. A couple of lost centre passes saw Bathurst take the lead in the last quarter with wing defence Monique Pointon never giving up.
The final score was a win to Bathurst by 5 goals, 63-58. A very strong and intense game of netball.
This win put Bathurst into the grand-final against Orange, and Forbes was drawn to play Dubbo in the play-off.
Once again Forbes came out with very strong netball skills, with shooters Chloe Madden and Ellie Flick combining in their best games of the competition.
Centre position was shared throughout the game between Shannon Hurley, Monique Pointon and Hannah Mattiske, all putting in huge efforts attacking and defending through the full court.
Wing defence Kate Kelly showed her intense pressure on the pass, causing her opposition to make many mistakes. At half time Forbes had a two goal lead, 26-24.
Another full centre court change of players saw Mel Cowhan on wing attack, again showing her ability to create space and pass accurately.
The sister connection came to the court, with Alex Bayley taking on wing defence, and showing her ability to read play and intercept many passes.
Forbes was ahead at three quarter time by 40-35, with circle defenders Nicole Mee and Kate Loneragain showing their dominance of the defence circle.
The final quarter saw Forbes dominate the play, and wing attack Nat Carthew rounding off an intense game with very accurate passes into the shooters.
The final score was a win to Forbes by 55-47, and a fantastic display of netball from a great team.
Players Player for finals day was goal attack Ellie Flick, who played her best netball, showing the huge improvement in all areas of her game, since playing in this year's competition.
A huge thank you to Forbes umpires Karen Hargraves and Libby Dallimore. Karen was selected to umpire the division 1 grand-final, which is a huge honour.
Congratulations to Libby Dallimore who has been mentored during the competition, and was awarded her National B badge on the finals day.
Congratulations to all the team for a wonderful competition, showing team work and sportsmanship throughout the full competition.
