Rochester fell to a heavy defeat to Echuca in Goulburn Valley League netball, with the Tigers’ hopes of playing finals in 2026 effectively ended at Moama Recreation Reserve.

The Murray Bombers were particularly strong in the second half, laying on 23 goals in the third and fourth periods as the struggling Tigers fell to their 11th loss from 14 matches in 2026.

Rochester largely stayed in the fight during the opening quarter, only trailing 13-8 after 11 minutes before Echuca netted seven of the period’s final eight goals to lead 20-9 at the first interval.

The Murray Bombers edged the second quarter 17-13 to take a comfortable 37-22 buffer into half-time, as the Tigers finished the first half well, but couldn’t slow down Echuca’s attack.

Another strong push for Bronwyn Slater’s side in the second half would effectively secure victory, and it came immediately, Echuca netting 13 of the first 17 goals in the third quarter.

The Murray Bombers also closed the period strongly with seven of the last nine goals to lead 60-32 entering the fourth quarter.

Rochester scored 10 times in the third period and Kristy Roulston’s team managed the same total in the final quarter, while Echuca piled on the goals at the other end, culminating in a dominant 83-42 scoreline in favour of the Murray Bombers.

A positive for the Tigers was the performance of goal shooter Tia Webb, who had another productive outing by scoring 37 of the side’s 42 goals.

Rochester (3-11) can still mathematically make the finals, but now needs to win all of its remaining matches while hoping for nothing short of a miracle of results to go in its favour elsewhere.

With post-season netball highly unlikely the Tigers will still look to finish 2026 strong, starting with a meeting against Tatura next.

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Wednesday, 29th September 2032

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