LAKE Boga extended their unbeaten start to eight straight games with a hard-fought nine-goal win over a determined Nyah-Nyah West United on Saturday.
Played in slippery conditions, with drizzling rain falling throughout the opening quarter, the ladder leaders produced their best netball in a devastating third term, when the Magpies outscored the Demons 15 goals to six after going goal for goal for much of the first half.
It was a destructive 15 minute period for NNW United, who managed to break even against the premiership favourites for the remaining 45 minutes of the match, with the third time ending as the decisive factor in the 46-37 result.
While Lake Boga continue to lead the way at the top of the ladder, Saturday’s loss could have enormous implications on the Demons’ season, with NNW United falling two games behind the fifth-placed Kangas in the race for the top five.
The wet conditions made scoring and cohesive ball movement difficult for both sides, according to Lake Boga assistant coach Sheridan Harrop, who was pleased to walk away from the challenging contest with their winning streak intact.
“We were just glad to get the points in the end, it was a pretty wet and miserable game and it took us a little bit longer to get into it than we would have liked, but we had a good third quarter that gave us some comfort in the end,” Harrop said.
“We’re happy with the win, we tried a couple of different combinations and we had a few too many forced errors from trying to force the ball into the ring a little bit too much or too quickly.
“Our speed worked against us in the midcourt early on, because we were mindful of the slippery court and the slippery ball, those kind of things, but (NNW United) were really good also.
“They put the pressure on right from the word go and made us pay for our forced errors, they were very strong at both ends of the court and their defenders played well, it was a good game from their perspective and they certainly pushed us.
“We didn’t make too many changes (after half-time), but we did open up our midcourt and slow down moving into our attacking end a bit. We tried to slow our feeds into our goalers and it helped that Katie (Carmichael) and Sarah (Hepburn) were hitting their straps in that third quarter and couldn’t miss.
“We seem to be having one really good quarter of netball at the moment and that was the one for us, but we need to be better than we were and play well for four quarters and not for just one quarter.”
While one quarter of dominant netball may have been the difference in the result, it was still an encouraging performance from the home side according to NNW United coach Madi Jones, who will be hoping for a similar display from her players when they face Balranald in another make or break game for their finals chances.
“I was really happy with how our girls played, I felt we took it to them from the start and worked hard to keep possession and score from turnovers,” Jones said.
“I was really happy with our defensive pressure across the whole game and couldn’t have asked for much more from the team to be honest.”
Sarah Hepburn was once again at her consistent best under the ring for Lake Boga, with the Magpies goaler scoring 36 of her team’s 46 goals for the match, while at the end of the court, NNW United’s goal shooter Sarah Gaskin was equally devastating, accounting for 30 of the Demons’ 37 goals.
Also among the better players for their teams was Emma Peacock, who produced many interceptions in the Magpies’ defensive third, while defender Shanai Kelly and centre Matika Mitchell were named in the Demons’ best.
FINAL WHISTLE
NNW UNITED 37
LAKE BOGA 46
