SWAN Hill sits atop the Central Murray A Grade netball ladder ahead of this Saturday’s top-five clash with Nyah-Nyah West United following a comfortable 34-goal win over Tyntynder at the weekend.
The Swans jumped out of the blocks with 19 goals to five in the first quarter and from that point were never headed, dominating the arch-rivals to win 58-24.
The win pushed Swan Hill past the Mallee Eagles and Balranald into the coveted No.1 position, with their Queen’s Birthday clash the stand-alone game played at the weekend.
With the Swans coming off the bye after a stop-start beginning to their season, and the Bulldogs’ strong performance against Lake Boga the Saturday before, it was imperative Swan Hill got off to a good start, according to coach Madeleine Nalder.
“Tyntynder put up a really good game last week against Boga, so we were very mindful that it was going to be a tough game and we wanted to make sure that we got off to a good start, which we did,” Nalder said.
“In the conditions, you want to make sure you’re warm and ready to go right from the start – we spoke about it at a lot at training during the week, that we were wanted to make sure that we went into the game ready to go, especially coming off the bye as well, so it was a big focus for us to jump out of the blocks and thankfully we managed to do that.”
The combination of Casey Frame and Ingrid Condely was too much for the Bulldogs’ defence, even with the talented Nicola Miliano playing a strong defensive game. It’s a combination, according to Nalder, that is only going to improve as the season continues.
“It’s really hard to split which one out of Casey (Frame) and Ingrid (Condely) has been the more dominant goalie – for a new combination they’ve been really gelling and working well together,” Nalder said.
“It’s been really pleasing to see their progress as a new combination since the start of the year.
“Our mid-court players were also very good – Kelsey (McCoy), Zoe (O’Sullivan), and Karli (McIntyre) were all really strong performers for us. Attacking-wise, they were really poised and composed with the ball, but also defensively they applied a lot of pressure through the midcourt and worked really hard defensively as well.
“That allowed us to pick up some loose balls in the midcourt and helped get the game on our terms – I felt the three of them worked really hard and played quite well.”
Tyntynder threw their team around in an attempt to find a combination that worked, with some success in the second half. The Dogs began to tighten the game up, with the Swans outscoring the home side by just six goals after the main break.
The Swans will face a rejuvenated NNW United this weekend, with every game becoming a must-win battle in their quest to remain on top of the ladder. Tyntynder will enjoy a well-earned break with the bye, before hosting the Cohuna Kangas in round 11.
MATCH RESULTS
A GRADE
TYNTYNDER 24
SWAN HILL 58
