At three-quarter time on Saturday it looked as if Melton Centrals were going to avenge last year’s Riddell District Netball League grand final loss to Romsey.
The Redbacks scored the first five goals of the game, but Centrals adapted to the wet conditions better at Romsey Park to hold a 32-24 lead going into the last break.
Centrals were dominating in mid-court and shooter Rebecca Morabito was capitalising on her teammates’ hard work.
PICTURE GALLERY: Melton Centrals v Romsey
The Redbacks looked like they were still trying to play dry-weather netball, turning over the ball with too many long passes.
The final quarter started with the Redbacks changing their approach to suit the conditions and their defence began to dominate.
That’s where it started to go wrong for Centrals.
Goal defence Melissa Laird slipped and departed with an ankle injury. The loss of Laird unsettled Centrals, with the Redbacks making the most of the situation to close the margin.
A head collision between two Centrals players led to Rebecca Wilson going off with concussion.
There was controversy as Centrals players called for a time-out while the Redbacks were allowed to score a goal.
The Redbacks were leading 41-37 when Centrals sustained another injury.
With only six players able to take the court, Centrals forfeited the rest of the game, with the Redbacks winning 41-37.
Centrals coach Randy Pereira was angry after the game, believing the umpires should have called off the match at half-time because of the rain and slippery conditions.
“We would have won the game but for those three injuries,” he said. “They would have never got near us otherwise.
“There was a meeting during the week about umpires calling off games when the conditions are bad.
“The players are never going to say, ‘We’re going to stop playing’.”
Redbacks coach Danni Davidson didn’t agree with calls for the game to be abandoned, saying she had played in worse conditions.
Davidson said her side didn’t play well in the first three quarters.
“We didn’t execute the game plan,” she said. “There were too many long passes and we didn’t think about them.
“We had to pick the right option with the ball.”
She said the injury to Laird helped stop the Centrals’ flow.
“Melton were fantastic and Mel is a fantastic defender,” she said.
“The conditions didn’t suit our style of play and the Centrals capitalised on it.”
