BOROONDARA Express have secured their way into the 2023 Victorian Netball League (VNL) grand final after a tight two goal win over the Geelong Cougars.

Last time these two sides met was not long ago only back in Round 15 where the Cougars took the game convincingly taking the win by 15-goals. This time around, Boroondara came away victorious with its 46-44 win.

Express asserted their dominance early taking a four-goal lead into the first break which continued into the second term.

The defensive pressure from Express was too much for the Cougars to handle with a 13-9 quarter time score off the hand of some misfeeds as the Express defenders were confusing the space with their footwork around the body.

A confident Boroondara side pushed Geelong both in defence and attack just going to show how much each side wanted a spot in that grand final.

Zali Anderson came out the blocks firing for Express in the first half with speed to burn. She was driving deep in the pockets and worked well with fellow middie Casey Adamson where either player was in a great position on the circle edge. Thanks to her speed, Anderson was able to hit circle edge with ease and feed the ball into Isabelle Hodgson, who was finishing off the hard work at the post.

Express’ defence forced several changes in the Cougars shooting circle with them playing all four of their shooters for varied amounts of time.

It is hard to talk about Boroondara Express without mentioning shooting sensation Hodgson. She had a solid 60 minutes out on court with her 35 goals, slowly gaining more confidence as the game continued which pushed her to go out of the circle more but still have a strong hold under the post on most occasions.

It was no easy pickings for Hodgson with Brooke Allan constantly challenging ball after ball that was coming her way. Her long arms got in the way of the Express shooters blocking a lot of space. But her elevation and ground work was exceptional as there was no space undefended.

Geelong were starting to come back in the third term, reducing the deficit to two and ready to challenge Boroondara with everything they had.

The introduction of Emma Buwalda into goal attack made it seem as though she had all the space in the world in the goal circle. She was calm at the post and had a great connection with the Cougars midcourt when needing to work the ball in more.

Express just held on to that established lead and never backed down, solidifying their place in the grand final.

Boroondara will go on to face City West Falcons in its last chance for glory and the VNL championship.