Netball
29 April, 2026
Tigers edge Kalkee in tight round three clash
Pimpinio’s A grade netball side headlined themselves as a team on the rise, defeating Kalkee 42-38 at home in round three of the Horsham District Football Netball League on Sunday, April 26. Laharum, Edenhope Apsley, Noradjuha Quantong and Harrow Balmoral all claimed victories in the other A grade matches.
After showing promise in their opening two games against Edenhope Apsley and Laharum, Tigers co-coach Lana Ellis was overjoyed to get a win against a quality opponent in Kalkee.
“It feels amazing,” she said.
“As a playing group, we feel on top of the world; we’ve been pushing for this.
“We had two tough games to start the season, and we knew this would be another tough one, but we knew we had it in us.
“It’s the lift the girls need, so we’re very happy.”
Little separated the teams early on, but impressive midcourt play from Amelia McRae and Tamika Mentha helped create more opportunities for Kalkee, who took a 12-9 lead at quarter time.
But the home side picked up momentum in both offence and defence, eventually taking a 21-19 halftime lead.
After going down by four goals, Kalkee finished the third quarter to bring the deficit to one goal (32-31) at the last break.
A strong start to the final quarter by the Tigers opened up a six-goal lead, before they eventually held on to claim the victory.
Goalies Mikayla Dumesny and Tahlia Thompson were impressive for Pimpinio, shooting 24 and 18 goals, respectively, with defenders Victoria Taylor and Ruby Williams playing superbly late in the game.
Jarrah Martin and Isobelle Schorback shot 17 and 15 goals, respectively, for Kalkee, with McRae and Mentha among the best on court for the visitors.
The Pimpinio coach credited the team’s composure throughout the intense contest and acknowledged Dumesny's strong performance.
“The best quality of these girls is that they hold their heads really high and they keep pushing,” Ellis said.
“It was getting tough there for a while, it was goal for goal, and Kalkee were up at several parts of the game.
“But our girls lift each other up, and I think that's probably half the reason why we got the win.
“We gave Mikayla Dumesny a really big job today of playing a holding game, and she played that so well.
“She didn’t miss many shots, and Tahlia did a lot of work getting hr good ball as well.”
On Saturday At Rupanyup, Laharum continued their unbeaten start to the season with a commanding 91-24 victory.
From the outset, the Demons took control of the game, consistently forcing turnovers in defence while executing their entries into the goal circle, going up 19-7 at quarter time, and continued their momentum to lead 45-11 at halftime.
Going up against the strong defensive duo of Jaspa Robinson and Ema Iredell, the young Panthers shooting duo of Phoebe Downer and Chloe Reinheimer helped the home side with an improved third quarter to have the score 61-20.
But Laharum saved their best netball till last, scoring 30 goals in the final quarter to win by 67.
Van Zyl shot an impressive 49 goals from 54 attempts, with Jones-Story shooting 42 from 53.
For the Panthers, Downer shot 16 from 28, and Reinheimer had 8 from 13.
Goalkeeper Emily Hurley and midcourter Jemma Nagorcka also impressed for the losing side.
Brooke Taylor, co-coach of the Demons, was ecstatic with the performance from her side in challenging conditions.
“I couldn't be happier; I was really proud of the girls’ efforts today,” she said.
“It was really hot out there, playing in about 28 degrees weather.
“We've got a few girls that are just getting back into netball after some time off, and I wanted to see them run out the four quarters, so I left the same seven out there for the whole game to get that match fitness into them.
“They actually didn't drop off as it got hotter or as they got a bit fatigued; it was really impressive.”
In Saturday’s other Anzac Day clash, Edenhope Apsley defeated Kaniva Leeor 49-39.
Coach Lavinia Fox was outstanding for the Saints, finishing with 43 goals, while Jasmine McIntyre had a strong performance in goal defence.
Abby Croft was among the best for the Cougars in the loss, finishing with 28 goals.
On Sunday, Noradjuha Quantong continued their unbeaten start to the season with a 53-36 victory over Natimuk United.
Bomber Holly Nuske earned player of the match honours as part of the Arapiles Cup, while Shannon Couch led the side with 40 goals.
For Natimuk, Stacey Hopwood led the side with 21 goals, with Bethany Sudholz having a strong game in goal defence for the side.
At Stawell, Harrow Balmoral recorded their first win of the year, defeating the Swifts 53-33.
Megan Little was one of the Southern Roos’ best, shooting 18 goals while switching between goal attack and goal defence, and Mia Rees scored 22 goals.
For the home side, Sarah Morris led the team with 14 goals, with Jade Ralph having a strong game in both offence and defence.
