THE Mallee Eagles have claimed early bragging rights – as well as top spot – after defeating Woorinen by 11 goals in a top of the table clash on the weekend.
The Eagles led from start to finish after claiming a four goal lead at quarter time, before a late flurry of goals in the second quarter blew the game open, with the visitors scoring 10 of the final 13 goals heading into the half-time break.
Although the Tigers fought back in the second half, the damage was already done, with the Eagles hanging on to record an impressive 54-43 win.
It was the Eagles fourth consecutive win to start the season, with Mallee co-coach Jess Jobling satisfied with her team’s opening month of the season.
“The girls threw in a really good four quarter performance from all seven of them on the court, it was super impressive to watch,” Jobling said post-match.
“I was just super proud at the end, and we spoke at the end of the game about how much we’re enjoying playing as a team and enjoying playing netball together this year.
“Our second quarter in particular was a real standout from our perspective, the girls started really well which is something we’ve been focusing on this year with trying to get a really good jump in the first half to help set ourselves up for the game.
“We shot really well in the second quarter, we defended really well and our transition through the mid court was pretty smooth too.”
The match-up between Woorinen’s key attacking weapons Tayla Bennett and Willow Conlan and the Mallee Eagles star defenders Jemma Meehan and Nevaeh Roberts loomed as being a crucial one pre-match, with Meehan and Roberts taking the points.
Both were among their teams better players in restricting Bennett to 25 goals and Conlan to 18 goals, with the Eagles defenders earning praise from Jobling as a result.
“Credit to Jemma (Meehan) and Nevaeh (Roberts), they capitalised on rebounds, stole a few from outside the ring and played a really nice game.
“Their (Woorinen) two goalies (Bennett and Conlan) are probably two of the best goalers in the league and they played well, but our defenders just capitalised on the few steals and rebounds that they could get.
“The fact that we were able to turn them turnovers into goals was a huge positive.
“I feel like we capitalised on a couple of intercepts and transitioned up down the court which resulted in goals, but our defenders played brilliantly yesterday on really tough opposition.”
Woorinen were far from outplayed, with many positives coming from the game, including the form of recruit Lily Den Houting who was once again among the Tigers better players.
Despite the loss, Woorinen co-coach Tayla Bennett was upbeat after the game, with the Tigers set to take plenty of learnings from the result.
“It was a very competitive game, but the Mallee Eagles showed how strong they are and that we need to be at our best on the day to beat them,” Bennett said.
“In saying that, we know that we will take a lot from the game and we know now what we need to work on and continue to work on, but it really comes down to the one percenters and making sure we are consistent across all four quarters of the game.
“We will play them (the Mallee Eagles) again later in the season and we look forward to that contest again down the track.”
FINAL WHISTLE
| WOORINEN | 53 |
| MALLEE EAGLES | 54 |
