TYNTYNDER managed to hold on to its lead over Woorinen and win despite a nail-biting comeback by the Tigers in the final quarter.
The Dogs won the thrilling contest by one goal, 43 to 42, despite surrendering a 10-goal lead at three-quarter time.
They were the dominant side throughout most of the match, with coach Emma Smith highlighting the need to get off to a good start against last year’s runners-up.
“It was really important for us to get a good start, just to get our mindset right in the game,” Smith said.
“Woorinen came back pretty hard and had a few positional changes in the last quarter, and we knew it would be tough.”
Smith praised her younger players, Elvie Kelly-Britten and Kelsey Rowe, for matching up strongly against their opponents, along with shooters Kate Morrison (31) and Tess Denham (12) for firing from the word go.
“To know that we can match it with the stronger sides is really important for our confidence going forward,” she said.
For the Tigers, it was the second game they’ve had to claw their way back after letting their opposition off on the front foot, doing the same against Kerang in Round 3.
They ended up losing both matches, and now sit on the break-even tally of two wins and two losses after finishing the home-and-away season last year with just one loss.
Tayla Stanley was the side’s best player, scoring 36 of the team’s 42 goals.
Despite the poor start to the game, Tigers coach Tessa Burton was happy with the way her team worked themselves back into it.
“Tyntynder were excellent and we were just on the wrong foot. We came back and we really showed our character and what our team is capable of doing, but we just need to implement that in four quarters, not just one quarter of netball,” Burton said.
“We made a change in the last quarter, I put [Jaclyn] Rivett in the centre and I put myself and Maddie Jeans back into defence, just for a different angle I guess.
“Jacky’s strength throughout the mid-court really opened up the court for us.
“I think the change made them rethink about putting the high balls into Kate [Morrison], a really, really strong goal-shooter.”
While Burton was optimistic her side would learn from the loss, she conceded the competition had tightened up a lot this year.
“You’ve got the likes of Kerang, who are really firing at the moment with the likes of the Wright sisters — their shooting combination’s brilliant. Tooley Manang, Kerang and Swan Hill are probably going to be teams to beat,” she said.
“But in saying that, with Mallee Eagles, Tyntynder and ourselves, you’ve got a lot of strong competition and it’s really exciting and fantastic for the league to have such a strong top five/top six teams.
“It’s going to be really close.”
