Undefeated Matrics beats Garville in Premier League netball grand final

A YEAR after losing a heartbreaking premiership decider to Contax by one goal, Matrics beat Garville in the Premier League final at Netball SA Stadium.

IT WAS the grand final win that was two seasons in the making.

Twelve months after losing a heartbreaking premiership decider to Contax by one goal, Matrics beat Garville in the Premier League final at Netball SA Stadium on Friday night.

In a game it led from start to finish, Matrics prevailed 54-44 to claim its first title since 2011.

Matrics became the first team since Contax in 2012 to go through the season undefeated, finishing with a 16-0 record.

The result also capped a huge fortnight for the club’s coach Jacqui Illman, who returned to the sidelines after giving birth to daughter Leila on July 28.

“There’s a lot of relief, a lot of joy and I’m really happy and so proud of the girls,” Illman said.

Garville — a former cellar-dweller in its first grand final since 1996 — started nervously and took 4½ minutes to get on the scoreboard through Georgie Virgo.

At times, Garville was guilty of haphazard or telegraphed passes, particularly entering the goal circle.

In part it was due to Matrics’ suffocating full-court pressure, but there was also a lack of composure from Garville players.

What was a 10-goal lead early in the second quarter was reduced to two in the final stages before half-time, after Laura Packard missed a close-range shot and Garville captain Chloe Drogemuller capitalised on a penalty.

That was as close as the underdogs got.

The top side was simply cleaner, cooler under pressure and had a shooter in Cody Lange that rarely missed.

Lange won the Marg Angove Medal — three years after winning the award as a 16 year old when Matrics won the 2011 premiership.

Matrics goal keeper Sarah Klau had a standout game on Virgo, reading the play with aplomb.

“I thought when we started off we looked scared, nervous,” Garville coach Jackie Blyth said.