Every catch and release was a battle and the dizzying exchanges of leads was enough to have the crowd reaching for drink bottles at the breaks.

While Port Fairy sneaked out to a late four-goal lead, Yellow clawed back from nowhere to level scores 39-39 at full-time.

It was contested netball at its best, with the bigger-bodied Yellow making its presence known throughout the match.

But the silky skills of the swift Port Fairy rivaled the physicality of the District league team.

“It was a very tough, physical game,” Port coach Bev Bourke said.

“I thought we should have won for various reasons. There were some decisions that didn’t go our way, which probably caused a bit of frustration among our girls and they panicked.

“We’re a short team and we’re a young team, playing against a lot more physical bodies.

“I was impressed with the way we teamed together . . . but it was our fault that we didn’t win.”

Yellow gave Port an indication of what was in store when it jumped to an 11-10 lead at quarter-time.

Port Fairy netted the first two goals of the second term before Yellow replied with two of its own.

The duel of the game was between Port centre Nicole Dwyer and Yellow’s Anna Archie, while Port goal attack Mandy Knee and Yellow defender Clare Wines were in the running for the title in the first half.

Port Fairy had some accuracy issues under the ring as Yellow relied on the strength of Katie Burt to produce its goals.

District goal attack Rhiannon Davis sunk a rushed long-bomb on the buzzer but it was disallowed, giving Port a 19-18 lead at the main break.

Danielle McInerney switched from wing attack to goal attack for Yellow in the third term and quickly helped make up the difference.

Knee persisted as the key attacker alongside Dwyer and guided a penalty shot through the net after time had been called to level scores at 29 apiece.