EDENHOPE-APSLEY forfeited their contest against Laharum at half time on Saturday, in a unique finish to the Horsham District netball league season.
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The Saints were ravaged by injuries in the match, with four girls going down across the first two quarters.
Edenhope-Apsley played the final moments of the second quarter with just six players on the court, before the two sides agreed to stop the match at half-time.
Laharum was leading 13-44 when the match was called.
Saints' co-coaches Ellie Thomas and Sarah Domaschenz were two of the injuries, with Thomas suffering a concussion and Domaschenz struggling with a calf injury.
Domaschenz said it was a decision based on preservation ahead of next weekend's finals campaign.
"We were really undermanned by half time," she said. "Honestly for us, it came down to duty of care for our players.
"We had a junior (Georgia Baxter) concussed as well. She copped an elbow.
"We're hoping a few will recover before next week, but Georgia will be out."
Domaschenz said it was not an easy decision.
"I tried to hold off for as long as we could," she said. "At the end of the day, the ladder positions weren't going to change."
Laharum coach Erin Mellington said she was happy to stop the game early.
"It was for the best that it was called off early - we would rather Edenhope-Apsley be okay for finals, and give them the best chance to have a full side next week," Mellington said.
"They copped four injuries, which was really disappointing to see.
"They decided they can't afford to have anymore injuries before finals, and it just wasn't worth risking it."
Mellington said it was an unusual finish to a game.
"I've never seen a forfeit ever before, so it was a really weird feeling," Mellington said.
"Playing against six players was really strange as well. We wanted to give them one of our players, but we couldn't do that due to some technical issues."
Edenhope-Apsley will try to recover and regroup ahead of their elimination final against Swifts on Sunday.
Laharum have a week off before facing Natimuk United in a highly anticipated qualifying final.
Kalkee meanwhile will face Harrow-Balmoral in the first week of finals, after the Kees were heavily defeated by Natimuk United at the weekend.
In one of their strongest performances of the season, Natimuk United led from the opening moments and claimed an ominous 29-67 victory away from home.
The result gave Natimuk United the minor premiership, while Kalkee finished the season in sixth place on the ladder.
In other contests, Harrow-Balmoral were too strong for Jeparit-Rainbow, Noradjuha-Quantong defeated Taylors Lake to finish their season on a high, while Swifts maintained their momentum after a strong win against Rupanyup.
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