HDFNL netball: Battle for fifth goes down to the wire

That's the scenario facing finals aspirants Lockington-Bamawm United, Leitchville-Gunbower, Huntly and Heathcote going into the final round of the HDFNL season next Saturday.

It comes after the Cats, Bombers and Hawks all missed their chance on Saturday to secure that one crucial win needed to elevate them above the pack.

That has left the door open for eighth-placed Heathcote to potentially sneak into the top five if it can get past Leitchville-Gunbower next Saturday and LBU suffers a heavy defeat against Elmore and Huntly loses to White Hills.

The Cats and Hawks can expect no favours in their bids to claim fifth spot, with their respective opponents Elmore and White Hills engaged in an intense battle of their own for top billing and a week off in the first round of finals.

For Leitchville-Gunbower, which enjoys a percentage advantage over Huntly, the equation is much simpler.

Beat Heathcote and if LBU loses, they will get the chance to contest their first finals series since 2016.

For Huntly, it must first conjure up a win over White Hills and hope LBU loses and Heathcote gets the job done against Leitchville-Gunbower.

It's set the scene for a fascinating final round.

While much of the focus was on the battle below, Colbinabbin quietly and officially sealed its own finals berth and fourth spot with a nine-goal win over LBU.

Not that it was in much doubt after the Grasshoppers entered the round two wins and percentage ahead of the three teams on 5-9, including their opponents on Saturday.

Grasshoppers coach Lisa Myers was happy to have put the matter to rest.

"It was a really good team performance and one of our best starts to a game, which set us up," Myers said about her team's 56-47 win, which reversed an earlier season loss to the Cats.

"We were happy as we only really have the seven girls and Ash (Ashleigh Zera) has done her knee and Mardi (Ryan) was isolating, so we had to use A-reserve girls.

"We were able to get out of the blocks quicker than Lockington and that set us on our way.

"It feels good to have locked in fourth spot, especially with a tough game coming next week against Mounts.

"Now, the pressure's off and we just need to get through it without any injuries."

The win did come at a cost with goal keeper Zara Myers going down with an ankle injury.

With the Grasshoppers unable to move from fourth spot, the talented young defender will not play in their final round match against the Blues in the hope she will be ready for the following week's elimination final showdown against a still unknown opponent.

Best on court for the Grasshoppers was Elle Palmer, who performed brilliantly at goal shooter, before taking the injured Myers' spot in defence in the second half.

Ella Kerlin was strong in the midcourt, while Tanzin Myers also stood out in defence.

At Huntly, Elmore reclaimed top spot on the ladder with an emphatic 84-25 win over the Hawks.

The win lifted the Bloods' percentage to 170.10, a margin of just .35 over White Hills, with both teams possessing matching 14-1 records.

White Hills confined Leitchville-Gunbower to a do-or-die battle against Heathcote next week, with a 54-30 win at Gunbower.

Mount Pleasant officially cemented third spot on the ladder and the double chance going into finals with a hard-fought 57-48 win against a gallant North Bendigo.

The win reversed an earlier season five-goal loss to the Bulldogs in round eight.

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