The Far North Coast HART Regional League 2022 Competition was held over two weekends at the Ballina Indoor Sports Centre. Teams from Grafton, Lower Clarence, Brunswick Byron, Ballina (1 & 2) and Lismore (1 & 2) competed in the competition and put on a great display of netball.
With just 1 Division this year the competition was tough. In Round 1 the Ballina 1 team and Lismore 1 showed their dominance with strong wins over Brunswick Byron ( 34-19) and Grafton (34-14). Lower Clarence and Ballina 2 fought it out, with Ballina 2 getting on top 28 to 21.
By the end of Day 1 we had seen 2 draws, Lismore 2 against Brunswick Byron and Lismore 2 against Grafton. The big match up of the day between Ballina 1 and Lismore 1 was a spectacular game, coming down to just 2 goals difference with Ballina getting the win 26 to 24. This left Ballina 1 sitting on top of the ladder leading into Finals Day.
Ballina 1, Lismore 1, Grafton and Lismore 2 hit the court again on Sunday for Finals day.
The day started with Semi Finals between Lismore 1 and Grafton, and Ballina 1 and Lismore 2. Lismore 1 got up over Grafton 59 to 29. Unfortunately Lismore 2 lost a player to injury in their Semi against Ballina 1, leaving them with just 6 players. Lismore 2 put everything they could into the game but Ballina 1 was just too strong, winning by a record 100 to 20!
The Grand Final game between Lismore 1 and Ballina 1 pulled a crowd of local supporters and they were not disappointed. Although Ballina 1 lead the game the whole way through, Lismore 1 showed why they were in the top 2 throughout the competition. The final score ended up 55 to 43.
Selectors Georgina Cohen, Liz Shaw and Elyce Banks had a tough job selecting just 12 athletes for the Far North Coast team to compete in the Regional State Cup in Sydney in October. Congratulations to all selected.
A big thank you to Sue Higgins, Head of Allocations, and her team including Rhee Searle and Chris Hall. Also thanks to all our volunteer umpires on the day, the game does not go ahead without you! Special congratulations to Cyndi Allen (Grafton), Caroline McInnes (Ballina) and Sophie Painter (Lismore) for being awarded their National B Badge during the competition.
