Despite the picturesque blue skies on Saturday afternoon at Violet Town a storm was brewing on the court in the first Kyabram District League A-grade elimination final.
Violet Town came up against a fierce Dookie United which slipped out of a top-two finish with a last-round loss to Tallygaroopna, but the Thunder returned to their best form and Violet Town went out of the finals race with a 25-goal defeat.
The previous week’s disappointment only spurred on the Thunder as they took the lead early and never looked back, taking out the elimination final 67-42.
Dookie United’s A-grade coach Laura Henderson was impressed by how her side controlled the game at Violet Town Recreation Reserve.
“I was expecting a bit more of a tougher game,” Henderson said.
“The girls came out firing after last week, so (I’m) really, really proud.”
Dookie United got off to a quick start, creating a turnover and getting the first two goals on the board, but from there, Violet Town looked to go toe-to-toe with its opposition.
Jo Wild controlled the play through centre and when the shooters got the ball Imogen Law and Teagan Kubeil capitalised on scoring opportunities.
At the other end Dookie could find its way into the ring without any trouble, but misplaced shots and exceptional rebounding from Violet Town kept the scoreline close.
United had a five-goal lead at the end of the first spell, but the game was in the balance.
Dookie stepped up its defensive work after the break and Violet Town had to shoot from long range, but Law rose to the occasion and continued to sink shots.
At half-time Dookie led by nine goals and continued to drive home its advantage in the third spell.
Violet Town’s Jayde Burden came off in the first few minutes and Karalee Mason replaced her.
Mason stepped into the wing attack role as Brooke Wood moved into wing defence.
The reshuffle gave Dookie United the upper hand as the outfit had its best scoring quarter.
United’s switch of play across the court was lethal and Violet Town could not handle the lightning-quick pace.
Violet Town looked to fight back in the final quarter with the original line-up back on the court, but by then the damage was done and Dookie managed the game to the last whistle.
One of Henderson’s most difficult tasks on the day was picking out a singular best-on performance.
“It is really hard, you know Georgia Caruana in (defence) was outstanding,” she said.
“Then we had Gemma O’Sullivan in the midcourt, so those two had a really, really good game.”
The Thunder will now take on Girgarre in the second week of finals after the Roos defeated Nagambie by nine goals.