Rats co-coach Olivia West admitted her side was lucky in its eventual 39-35 win over the Roos. 

“We weren’t very good,” she said of the Rats’ performance at Horsham City Oval. 

“I don’t know what happened. We just made silly mistakes, perhaps there were some finals nerves? It was a scrappy game.”  

West returned to the Rats line up, along with Megan Shea and Kate Bligh. Bligh, who had injured in her calf in the warm up the previous week, played half of Sunday’s match in centre before shifting into wing attack. 

Also coming back from a sore calf, Rats goalie Shea didn’t miss a beat. She managed to snag 27 majors while Jakki Gibson chimed in with 12. 

Ararat came out firing in the opening half and went into the main break holding a seven goal lead. 

“We set ourselves up in the first half,” West said. 

At one stage, Ararat held a 10 goal lead but the Roos were able to peg the margin back to just four at three quarter time. The teams went goal-for-goal in the final term. 

West said Sunday’s victory was a team effort, although she paid tribute to her coaching partner Rebecca Skrabl.

Skrabl was instrumental for the Rats in defence, rebounding and intercepting the ball at crucial stages as well restricting the influence of Roos’ goalies. 

Ararat must now travel back to City Oval this Sunday, where will face Minyip Murtoa for the fourth time this season. The Burras were defeated by Warrack Eagles in last Saturday’s qualifying final. 

West is confident the Rats can extend their winning run, having defeated the Burras on two previous occasions. 

“We’ll look back on those games and think about those things that we did right, and the combinations we used,” the Rats co-coach said. 

“Even though we won, we have to put last Sunday’s game behind us. We can’t have another repeat performance like that otherwise we’ll get beaten.” 

In the 17 and under competition, Ararat narrowly went down to Horsham Saints in their qualifying final clash. 

The Rats trailed at every change and couldn’t overcome the Saints, who went on to record a 33-30 victory.  

Rats’ Maddi Batchelor and Breeanna Toomey combined well in the ring, scoring 16 and 14 goals respectively. 

Ararat now takes on Stawell in a sudden death semi-final on Sunday. 

The Rats’ 15 and under A side suffered a disappointing loss, going down to Horsham Saints by 11 goals. 

Ararat spent two weeks training for a particular Saints attacking end, and they surprised the young Rats with a different line up.  

The girls worked hard to turn the ball over, but the attacking end found it hard to convert against a tall Saints’ defence.

Ararat had its opportunities, having 58 scoring attempts to Saints 53. Rats’ centre court players Abbey Moar, Annie Shea and Karly Griffits, worked hard and were strong in bringing the ball into attack. 

Moar was named best on court in the 37-26 loss. The Rats now face Minyip Murtoa in a semi-final on Sunday.  

They have beaten the Burras on the three occasions that they have previously played them. Coach Megan Shea said her players need to take these wins with them into Sunday's final, play strong netball and be confident. 

A strong final quarter performance helped Ararat defeat Stawell in their 15 and under B elimination final last Sunday. 

India Flamsteed shot 22 goals and Sam Briggs helped out with nine as the Rats ran out 31-25 victors. 

Ararat now meets Horsham Saints in Sunday’s first semi-final. 

A fired up Rats have advanced to the 13 and under second semi-final after they defeated Dimboola 38-21. 

From the first whistle, it was obvious Ararat was going to be hard to beat. 

Rats coach Kate Bligh praised her players, saying that every player did what was asked of them and their game flowed beautifully from one end of the court to the other. 

Delaney McLoughlan led the way with 25 goals and Racquel Scott contributed 13 in what was a solid win. The Rats will take on Stawell this Saturday at Nhill’s Davis Park. Ararat are 1-1 against Stawell and it is expected to be a close contest to see who makes it to the grand final first.