THE Ararat Rats' 15 and under B team has broken a 26-year premiership drought in the Wimmera Netball Association junior competition.
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The Rats defeated the Horsham Demons by two goals in a thrilling grand final at Central Park, Stawell on Saturday.
Ararat went into the match as the slight underdog having won only one of its previous three encounters against the Demons in 2014, however coach Megan Shea was quick to let her team know that anything can happen in a grand final.
"On paper it was the same Horsham team. If they had have made a heap of changes and brought players in it might have been a bit different psychologically, but we kept saying this is the same side we beat by 18 goals (in round 12) and there is no reason you can't do that again," Shea said.
Little separated the two teams throughout the contest, with the Rats holding a one goal buffer at the first change.
Rats' captain Emily May and Ella Carlyle worked hard against a top shooting combination during the second term, with the Ararat defenders forcing Horsham to change its line-up at halftime in a bid to open the scoring.
"To know that we had got on top of that combination and forced that change was a bonus and lifted our girls going into the second half," Shea said.
"Emily does a lot of work away from the ball and keeps her opponent in the circle. She goes to work really early and forces her goalie out of position and I have been impressed with her leadership throughout the season too."
Neither team was able to break away during the premiership quarter, with the scores locked at 23 apiece heading into three-quarter-time.
The Demons raced out to a three goal advantage by the halfway mark of the fourth term and it looked as though Horsham was headed for premiership glory, but the Rats refused to give in.
Shea said it was Ararat's defensive pressure that saw it claim the come from behind win.
"Horsham have really good goalies, so I told our defensive end that they won't always get the rebound or turnover, but it might be that critical moment in the last couple of minutes that it will come their way," she said.
"Over the whole finals' series I have just said that they have to be patient, not drop their heads and just persevere and that's what happened.
"We have worked on defensive pressure right down the court and the whole team played that role well, particularly in the last part of the final quarter.
"We caused them to step a couple of times because of the pressure and they missed seven goals to our one (for the quarter), so obviously in those final few minutes we capitalised on some big shots."
Shooter Lilly Sewell led Ararat's charge back into the lead, with an impressive final quarter performance that saw her receive best on court honours.
"For the whole game Lilly had two players play on her because their wing defence was dropping down the court and standing on the circle to block her coming out," Shea said.
"So to have two girls on her and still stand up and play the game that she did she didn't miss a goal in the last quarter it was fantastic to see."
Midcourt player Indie Calvert, who was unavailable for last week's preliminary final, returned for the decider and was also one of the Rats' standouts.
"Indie has probably been our most versatile player because of her basketball background, so on the weekend she played a half at wing attack and then we threw her in the centre," Shea said.
"She is a lovely passer into goals and her height was a big advantage for us in that second half."
The 31 to 29 victory was the first junior netball premiership for the Rats since 1988.
"It was really nice to get that win too for Indie and Lilly because they actually did the club a favour and played above their age level last year, they should have still been in the 13 and unders, like Annie (Shea) and Karly (Griffits) this season," Shea said.
"It is nice for these girls to be rewarded for playing out of their age group and away from their friends.
"It makes it quite special for me too when you have your daughter, niece and kids you teach at school all in the team, plus Peta (May) my sister-in-law was the team manager.
"It was a bit of a family affair and I consider those kids from school like family, so it is just nice to share the accolade and milestone with all of those girls.
"This year has been great, not just the Bs, we are a whole squad with the 15As and I have loved helping Brooke and Lauri (Williamson) in their first year of coaching as well.
"The whole 15 and under squad was a delight to go down to the court every Thursday night with and coach.
"There are some girls going on to 17 and unders next year and some girls staying down, so it is an exciting time.
"It was also really good to see the supporter base at the grand final. I hope that this premiership spurs these kids on to stay at the club and try even harder next year we need to get a few more on the board."