THE South Coast Blaze under 23s side fell one win short of a maiden premiership in their inaugural season on Tuesday, losing the grand final 44-32 to the UTS Randwick Sparks.
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In the Premier League decider, the Blaze started slow, and Sparks took an early lead of nine goals to one in the first nine minutes.
UTS capitalised on unforced errors, intercepts and missed shots by the Blaze's attacking end, despite the defensive end of Selene Chadrawy (wing-defence), Jess Bowden (goal-defence) and Aimee Landrigan (goal-keeper) wrestling a few balls back for South Coast.
The Blaze started to find their rhythm towards the end of the first quarter with shooters Ky-Mani Schwenke and Emily Dunn, working with centre and team captain Clare McCrohon and wing-attack Abbey Baker, to penetrate through the tough Sparks defence.
The score at the end of the quarter was 14-5 to the Sparks.
In the second quarter, the Blaze came out fighting, and brought the score back to within seven in the first five minutes - with the injection of Bronnee Loy at wing-attack.
Mia Evans also came in at goal-attack, to give Emily Dunn a rest and bring fresh legs to the shooting circle.
However, with more unforced errors by the Blaze attack, the Sparks were able to get on a roll, and pushed out the score to a 13-goal lead with six minutes to go in the half.
Abbey Baker subbed on at centre to steady the team but the damage was done, as the Blaze trialled 28-15 at the break.
After a half-time chat with coach Regan Tweddle, the Blaze were still raring to go.
Illawarra junior Sharnee Behr started the quarter at wing-defence and made an immediate impact on the team, and forced her opponents into countless turnovers.
But the Sparks' defence was too strong and gave the Blaze little chance to chip away at the lead.
Keah Yealland subbed in at wing-attack and Emily Dunn came in at goal-attack. Mia Evans dropped back to goal-shooter to try another combination, but the team couldn't claw back the score.
Although it was a stronger quarter from the Blaze, who went goal for goal with the Sparks, UTS kept their substantial lead, with the third quarter ending at 36-22.
The last quarter saw Sharnee Behr drop into goal-defence, which inspired the team to lift with solid circle defence - working in cohesion with goal-keeper Aimee Landrigan, who played in that position all game, and Selene Chadrawy, who returned at wing-defence.
The tried and tested combination of Ky-Mani Schwenke at goal-shooter and Emily Dunn at goal-attack saw the Blaze finish strong. They won the quarter 10-8 but the Sparks had been dominant all game, and the Blaze never recovered from the first quarter deficit - as UTS held on to win the premiership 44-32.
"Unfortunately we had a slow start to the final, which forced us to play catch-up most of the way," Blaze under 23s skipper Clare McCrohon said.
"Although we were much improved in the final three quarters, the lead proved too much for us to chase down.
"Despite the loss, I was proud of the way the girls continued to fight and never gave up, which has been one of our main traits this season.
"Being a part of this Blaze's inaugural season has been incredible, especially being able to make it all the way to a grand final.
"I couldn't be prouder of the club - it really sets us up for the future."
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