CITY Heat has grabbed fourth spot on the Victorian Men’s and Mixed Netball Association (VMMNA) Men’s Premier Division table after a final round thrilling one-goal win. Whilst St Therese and Netblacks were assured of finals, the Heat – as well as Southern Seahawks who sat in third – were not. Those two latter sides and DDNA all had cause for a spot, with only two of them making it. In the end, St Therese’s victory over DDNA was enough to see the Seahawks survive despite another defeat of their own, going down to Netblacks by 24 goals.

Despite the counter-contrasting results, Seahawks – who head into the finals off the back of four losses – still finish two per cent clear of an in-form City Heat who made it three wins from their past four matches. Though a lot will still need to change for the third placed side, with the Seahawks set to take on Netblacks again next week in the semi-finals, whilst the top ranked St Therese will look to bounce back from its loss to City Heat just a week ago, and re-establish themselves as the team to beat in the other semi-final.

Looking to the Round 10 action, and with both the top two sides firmly in control, it meant the door was ajar for the Heat, who just needed a victory to overtake fourth placed DDNA. It was a nervous start from the Heat against Ariels, trailing by a goal at quarter time and two at the main break. That soon changed in the third term, when they piled on 16 goals to 11 to take a three-goal advantage at the last change.

The big move was Al Punchon switching ends from goal keeper to goal shooter for the Heat, teaming up with Jed Christian in the second half. James Matthews came to the bench after a 16-goal first half, whilst Gerard Murphy (wing attack) and Thomas Gilberto (goal defence) both came on. Previous goal defence Ronan Pring was moved into goal keeper, as the Heat looked to mix up the side to try and get something to change.

That it did, as the Heat grabbed their chances in the third, and the pressure from Gilberto on Ariels’ goal attack Josh Claverino. The latter scored just three of seven in the third term, finishing with seven of 13 for the match, whilst Cameron Allum – who had only missed one of his first 27 attempts – missed his last two chances on goal in the penultimate quarter. He found his grove again the in the last though, piling on 13 goals as his side managed 14, and did not miss a shot in the final stanza.

Ariels also brought Ryan Towers back on in centre – after sitting out the third term – and Kurt Thompson in goal attack, with the lineup otherwise remaining consistent. Despite shooting at 100 per cent, the Ariels could not stop the Heat from getting over the line, with a frantic last minute which saw the Heat do enough to just scrape by in a one-goal thriller, 49-48. That one goal was the difference between City Heat making finals, and DDNA surviving.

Jake Noonan shone through the midcourt for the Heat, with Punchon’s versatility and ability to turn the game in the third term also impressive. For the Ariels, Allum’s three particularly dominant quarters kept the last-placed side in the contest, almost causing one of the bigger boilovers of the season.

In the other more one-sided results, Netblacks easily stormed to a 24-goal victory over Southern Seahawks, 59-35. The second placed team won every quarter, and the first three convincingly, to lead by six, 13 and 23 at each of the first three breaks. Junior Levi scored 45 goals in the win, bit t was a shared contribution with Brodie McCleish (11) and Cameron Powell (three), with the latter playing wing attack for three quarters. Deepak Patu continued his great form through the midcourt, whilst for Seahawks, Jayden Cowling (23 goals) was the star in the loss.

St Therese flexed its muscles even more with a 33-goal domination of DDNA to bounce back from its first loss of the season last week. St Therese raced to a 10-goal lead at quarter time, and then lead by 13 at the main break. The second half is where the minor premiers broke away however, piling on 38 goals to 19, to run away with the 75-42 victory. The winners had stars on every line, with Jake Henderics at goal shooter pairing up with Tom Hardwick (goal attack), whilst Tristan Comans dominated at goal keeper.

MEN’S PREMIER DIVISION ROUND 10 RESULTS:

Netblacks (59) defeated Seahawks (35)
St Therese (75) defeated DDNA (42)
City Heat (49) defeated Ariels (48)