Court action leads to loss

By Barry Rollings
Volume 48, No. 15, August 24, 2006

ON THE BALL: Air Force’s defenders work hard against their Army opponents. Air Force lost the men’s final by just six points.

Photo by LAC Kim Eager

AIR Force provided stiff competition for Army but could not maintain second-half momentum in the men’s final of the ACT inter-Service Netball Championships at Lyneham Indoor Netball Centre in Canberra on July 25.

Air Force, which had qualified for the final by beating Navy, fought hard for a 6-5 half-time lead but was gradually worn down by Army in the second half and lost 13-19.
The slick teamwork and precision passing of Army proved too much for Navy in the women’s final, which Army won 28-13.

The mixed final was a dour affair in which Navy battled hard to maintain the early lead it had established, before producing a strong last quarter that Army could not match. Navy outscored Army 7-1 in the final term for a convincing 21-13 victory.

About 60 players in nine teams contested the titles, including players from Wagga Wagga and Nowra.

FSGT Caroline Godfrey dominated the centre court for Air Force in the women’s competition and Mrs Linda Banks had an accurate day scoring goals.

In the mixed competition, LAC Kane Evans was a versatile player, standing out in both the shooting and centre court areas, while Justine Smith proved strong in defence.

For the Air Force men, FSGT Talwyn Davies was a tall and strong defender, while CPL Edmar Scott had his eye in with his goal-shooting accuracy.

“It has been a very smoothly-run competition, with the Services well represented across the board in both the men’s and women’s competitions,” ACT netball representative LT Paula Vetter said.

“It has been a good day to promote netball within the ADF community.

“The standard has been very high, surprisingly so in the mixed competition, while the women’s competition also produced a good standard.”

At the end of the day teams were selected to represent the ACT at the ADF Netball Championships in Perth from October 22-28.

From there, ACT representatives will be vying for selection in the ADF representative teams to contest the Arafura Games in Darwin in May next year.

The ACT teams are:
Women: Coach, WO1 Greg Pearson; strapper, SGT Phil Crome; manager, TBC; PO Elizabeth Smith, OCDT Jessica Condon, OCDT Louise Taylor, LS Kirsten Betts, SMN Shannon Cook, OCDT Hollie Cahill, OCDT Sally Williamson, SGT Sara Sattell, LT Paula Vetter, SBLT Kate Muari, SMN Kristy Shakespeare.

Mixed: Coach, WGCDR Bel Crooks-Burn; strapper, SGT Phil Crome; manager, TBC; SMN Kellie Bormolini, CPL Jodi Ross, OCDT Rachael Tews, SMN Rhiannon Jones, LACW Justine Smith, OCDT Vanessa Stohart, OCDT Suz Simmons, CPL Rachel Gibbs, Suzie Morris, LAC Shaun Schafferius, FLTLT Dave Marshall, Shaun Farrell, SIG Nick Packer, CPL Matthew Wheelahan.

Men: Coach, PO Fiona Brayshaw; strapper, SGT Phil Crome; manager, TBC; LACW Tim Hatch, SMN James Bailey, CPL Nicolas Lawler, LAC Kan Evans, CPL Edmar Scott, SBLT David Jarrett, AB Alex Adur, MIDN Jude Power, CPL Wayne Myers, MAJ Colin Blyth.

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