Senior football
On Saturday the All Blacks took on North Wangaratta, the side which beat the Panthers by over 100 points earlier in the season.
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The All Blacks started off on fire kicking the first two goals of the game as Jayden Brady and Liam Sinclair were looking very dangerous.
Jayden, a mid-season recruit to the club, booted three goals for the day.
The All Blacks went into quarter-time with a narrow lead and were up and about playing their best overall team game for the season.
Chelton Orchard had another excellent game for the All Blacks as the skipper was in and under at every contest and was damaging with ball in hand collecting best-on-ground honours for the Panthers.
The Benalla side went into the half down by four points and was right in the hunt.
Alby Hill had his best game for the All Blacks in 2023 as the crafty small forward landed tackles and created multiple scoring opportunities.
In the second half the All Blacks ran out of legs and North Wangaratta ran away with the game but the club was proud of the seniors efforts and the improvement the side has made since earlier in the season.
Final score:
All Blacks 6.4 (40) def. by North Wangaratta 14.7 (91)
A-grade
On Saturday the Panthers came up against North Wangaratta and wanted to grab a win but the side was still missing key players.
In the first quarter the All Blacks showed a lot of fight but with neither team able to show it on the score sheet.
In the second quarter North Wangaratta pushed out the lead 18-12.
The second half saw a lot of changes made due to girls only being able to play two quarters and it took time for the side to find its feet.
North Wangaratta was too strong for Benalla, taking out the win 34-26.
Best-on-court went to the All Blacks’ ever-reliable midcourter Meagan Hausner (Ray White award) who stepped into the goal defence role for the first half, providing pressure.
Second best (Stella Stella) went to Gertie McCallum, who ran hard all day, chasing balls and feeding in well to shooters.
Third best (Royal Hotel) went to the All Blacks’ wing defence Ashlea McDonald, who always provided great defensive pressure.
Final score: All Blacks 26 def. by North Wangaratta 67
Reserves
This week the reserves welcomed North Wangaratta to the Friendlies Oval with the challenge to continue on their winning streak.
With a few players out of the side, managing light injuries, the All Blacks were still confident they could get the win.
In the first quarter the Panthers started well, dominating every area of the ground and getting repeat forward 50 entries, but were unable to capitalise on their opportunities, kicking two goals and five behinds to just one behind for the visitors.
At quarter-time the message was to continue on the way they had been playing and push the opposition and to steady in front of goal and make the most of the opportunities.
The Panthers were able to keep up the intensity, but North Wangaratta was trying to make the game overly-contested to slow the Panthers down.
The All Blacks fixed up their inaccuracy kicking three goals straight, but gave up a couple of easy goals with the score being 35-14 at half-time.
The message from the coach was to break the game open and not to get caught up in the slow, contested play the Hawks were trying to play.
The Panthers came out in the third quarter and repeated the dominance across all lines, as they did in the first quarter, constantly defending well, winning clearances and getting repeat inside 50 chances.
Inaccuracy in front of goal stopped the Panthers from putting the game away, kicking four goals, four behinds, but kept the opposition scoreless and went into the last break with a 39-point lead.
The coach asked the boys to run out the last quarter and break the game open early.
The side responded well, putting the foot down and getting a handy lead halfway through the last. This allowed a few of the midfield players to rest forward and have a spell on the bench, which created opportunities for others to step up.
The Panthers were able to finally run out winners by 43 points.
Congratulations to Morgan White playing his 100th club game. Morgan has been a great clubman and has always stepped up when asked.
Final score: All Blacks 11.9 (75) North Wangaratta 5.2 (32)
Best players: Brad Milligan/Sherridon Homes award — Karl Mullins. Royal Hotel Award — Eoin Fitzgerald. Benalla Golf Club driving Range — Joshua Kotvas. Thursday Night Dinner — Thomas Whitty. Ryan Nedeljkovic and Patrick Buckley also performed very well.
B-grade
B-grade came up against eighth on the ladder, North Wangaratta.
Both teams had support from junior grades to fill teams, however this still made for a competitive contest.
Benalla started slowly, getting plenty of the ball, but it was unable to make the most of chances early.
Benalla persisted and found its rhythm, leading 31 to 13 at half-time.
The All Blacks continued to build their lead through centre. Bec Mathieson provided consistent defensive pressure and attacking drive all game and Lis O’Halloran was impressive in defence, getting her hands on intercepts and rebounds.
Kellie Holmes also led from the front with strong contested play across the court. Benalla ran out winners
Final score:
All Blacks 68 def. North Wangaratta 22.
Awards: Bec Mathieson, Lis O’Halloran and Kellie Holmes.
B-reserve
After coming off three loses, B-reserve was looking for a good win and a percentage boost this week.
The first quarter saw a great team effort with Benalla up 20-1.
Changes through the mid-court saw Erin Crook running out the centre position, with strength in both the attack and defensive end.
The All Blacks’ defence was incredibly strong throughout the game.
Courtney Sammon got multiple intercepts throughout the mid-court and Chloe Dods and Renae Hughes were virtually unstoppable all game.
The pair played some outstanding netball, making North Wangaratta earn not only every goal, but every pass in their goal third.
The goaling duo of Jemma Smith and Hannah Ely again demonstrated the strength that Benalla has missed the past two weeks.
Ely shot at 100 per cent accuracy in the second and third quarters. Holly Robertson also had a brilliant game, settling into the wing attack position with great accuracy.
Benalla came away with the win.
Final score: All Blacks 83 def. North Wangaratta 10
Awards: Best — Chloe Dods. Second best — Holly Robertson. Third best — Renae Hughes.
Under-17s
This week saw the under-17 Panthers up against North Wangaratta.
Last time the sides played each other it was a close match with three of the All Blacks players out the girls came out just on top.
The Panthers came out strong in both defensive and attacking ends, getting many rebounds, intercepts, turnovers and having accurate shooting.
The centre court was tight with all players having hands over every ball and providing the pressure when needed.
The All Blacks continued to put pressure on throughout the game, with everyone proving strong in all positions and running out hard for all four quarters taking out the game.
Final score: All Blacks 46 def. North Wangaratta 33
Awards: Emily Baker — All Blacks Canteen Voucher. Grace Cooke — Spot 4 Icecream. Tiahna Neal — Harleys Pizza.
Under-15s
The Panthers faced North Wangaratta in perfect conditions.
The defensive end in Immy and Amber worked overtime with pressure and caused a number of turnovers.
The centre court in Georgia, Remi, Zellie and Torah created great passages of play with consistent leading and defensive pressure and chasing down loose balls.
The attacking end once again worked well together, constantly re-leading and feeding the shooters with some great passes.
The shooters Heidi and Matilda made sure our passages of play throughout the court were rewarded with accurate shooting, giving the Panthers the percentage booster they need heading into the tail end of the season.
Final score: All Blacks 43 def. North Wangaratta 13
Awards: Zellie Nicholls — Hollywoods Pizza. Matilda Horne — All Blacks canteen. Heidi O’Halloran — Slices by Alara.
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