Cavaliers beat Northern Hawks to reach State Netball League decider

A thrilling Tasmanian Netball League qualifying final kept a raucous puffer-jacketed Silverdome crowd on the edge of their seats as the Cavs stormed away in the latter stages to win 62-56.

It ended the Hawks' incredible run of consecutive victories dating back to their loss to Cavs in the 2021 grand final.

The Hawks will face a preliminary final at the Silverdome next Saturday against a Cripps Waratah side that finished third and beat Kingston 56-47 in Friday night's elimination final.

The grand final will also be at the Silverdome, on Saturday, July 22, with the prospect remaining of a fourth all-Northern affair in five years.

Cavaliers will be in buoyant mood having also reached the 19s decider following a 41-34 defeat of Cripps. The club has dominated the 19s competition and is gunning for a fourth title double having previously won both in 2006, 2013 and 2019.

The Lou Carter-Dannie Carstens coached opens side produced their best performance of the campaign to come back from 17-13 down at quarter-time.

A big second quarter earned a three-goal lead at the main break which they stretched out to seven at the final change but even the most passionate Cavs fans didn't relax until deep into the final term.

On the day their brother Aaron returned to action with Riverside Olympic, Eunice Kidmas took on the toughest task in Tasmanian netball by limiting Hawks' goal machine Ash Mawer to 37 goals while sister Esther slammed in a game-high 41 at the other end. It made for a busy afternoon for dad Ali who was watching Aaron's progress on his phone while cheering on his daughters.

Captain Shelby Miller and Keely Atkinson dominated the middle of the court to set up the prospect of a rare personal triumph for the former who was part of a previous double with Cavs' 19s in 2013.

"I had a really good feeling all week coming into this game," Carstens said.

"It was a horrific performance a couple of weeks ago (also against the Hawks) but it was a good loss to have and after that we ironed out a lot of things and learned so much from it.

"You've just got to disrupt what Hawks do in their attacking end. They've got a great focal point in Ash Mawer who scores lots of goals so it was all about how much ball we were going to gain and the ability to score off that.

"The game was certainly won in our defence. Compared to last time, we played with much more intent and hunger.

"I think Keely played a pivotal role in the centre, she forced them to make changes. She played a great game. Everyone had such impact, Dana (Lester) came off the bench and turned a few critical ones over and Ash Mawer is such a great match-up for Eunice. You're not going to win many off Ash but the ones you do win are going to be really important."

The result continued an excellent recent resurgence by Cavs who only snuck into the qualifying final on percentage having finished level on points with Cripps.

Having completed the roster season with 14 straight wins, with margins of three and 16 goals to twice beat Cavs, Hawks must refocus to keep alive their title defence.

"Hats off to Cavs they came out firing, had a fire in their belly and really wanted it," said coach Alicia Sargent. "They deserved to get what they got.

"Defensive pressure paid off for them which got them a lot of turnovers and they moved the ball pretty quick and into shooting range. That was key."

*************************

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: