NDNA 2023: Pingelly outlast Cuballing, Wagin continue dominance and Williams thump Wickepin

It was the final round of the home-and-away season for the Narrogin and Districts Netball Association’s A1 competition last week.

Kicking things off on Friday night was the game of the round, with third-placed Pingelly facing fourth-placed Cuballing.

The teams were evenly matched with Cuballing coming up against the versatile Pingelly who edged ahead by two goals at the first break.

Cuballing’s strong defensive line-up of Taya Olman, Mia Slawinski and Telisha Kickett had a great battle with Pingelly’s shooters in Katie MacNamara and mid-season recruit Georgia Kowald. Pingelly extended their lead at every change, eventually running out winners, 64-51.

The second match of the round was between fifth-placed Olympics Gold and top-of-the-table Wagin.

Olympics were missing several players from their starting line-up, leading to the A1 debut of Taylah Licence and Lee Conlan joining daughter Claire Conlan for the first time on court together.

Despite these changes, Olympics Gold started the game strong and were ahead during the first quarter thanks to strong on court pressure from mid-court trio Jade Martens, Lee Conlan and Jo Annear while Lili Palumbo and Liberty Tullett were great defensively.

Wagin were not to be denied, however, and managed to overcome this deficit to lead by six at the first change.

Led by their captain Fee Pocock and strong defence from Faith McNab and Kiana Roser, Wagin showed why they were leading the division and outscored gold significantly with accurate shooters Jaelyn Ranieri and Jess Daniels digging in as they finished 62-31 winners.

The final fixture for the division was played on Saturday between the second-placed Williams and Wickepin.

Williams made a statement and handed Wickepin the wooden spoon, running out winners 67-26.

The NDNA’s finals start this Friday night with the A1 second semifinal being played at 6pm between Pingelly and Cuballing and the first semifinal being held at 7.30pm with Wagin playing Williams.

These finals promise to deliver highly contested games and a competitive spectacle, so the association encourages everyone head to the YMCA for an entertaining evening of netball.