A 13-goal to five first quarter has seen the Mallee Eagles record their fifth straight win over the season on Saturday, defeating the Cohuna Kangas by 22 goals.
Kasey Torr was a late withdrawal for the Eagles, who continue to sit atop of the Central Murray A Grade ladder after five rounds.
The Eagles dominated from start to finish, turning an eight goal lead at the first change into a 16-goal advantage by the main break, before going on with the job in the second half on their way to winning 56-34.
Megan Thorneycroft was superb for the home side, scoring a game high 36 goals, with Mallee Eagles co-coach Alicia Harvey pleased with her team’s four quarter performance post-match.
“It was a really tough and physical contest, which is exactly what we were expecting,” Harvey said.
“We matched up well with them right down the court, particularly the bookends, they had some really good passages of play and credit to their midcourt, they forced us to go up a gear and up our pressure to force those turnovers.
“Our goalies (Thorneycroft and Julia Amezdroz) moved confidently and shot accurately and our speedy midcourt fed into them beautifully all day.
“We just had a ripping start; we scored nine out of the first 10 goals of the game, which is something we are focusing on because playing catch up netball is never easy or ideal.
“We just built momentum and kept our composure by playing possession ball.
“Cohuna are a well drilled side and will no doubt be another strong match up when we meet with them again later in the season, especially when we both have a full side.”
Emily Bookham and Tilly Bish stepped in to help fill the void left by Torr for the Eagles, but it was the absence of star Cohuna defender Carly Geary that had the bigger impact on the result, with the Kangas unable to shut down Thorneycroft.
While Geary’s absence hurt the Kangas, her replacement Lily Guerin combined well with goal defender Marli Easton, with the pair earning themselves best on court honours for Cohuna.
For Cohuna coach Georgia Anderson, her team’s problems were at the other end, with the Kangas making too many errors in their attacking third.
“The score wasn’t great, but it didn’t reflect all the great things that occurred from each player for us either,” Anderson said.
“I was so impressed with our defensive efforts, especially considering our main defender was out.
“The score did however reflect our mistakes, we just made too many errors, mainly in our attack end.
“I’m not concerned though as this occurs when you’re up against the best defenders in the league and also when you’re still a new side, which we are.
“We know what we have to work on and change now as Mallee are well drilled in defence.
“Well done to them across the board for their high level of integrity and skill, they always capitalised well.”
Cohuna goalers Danni Bird (17 goals) and Carla Walker (17 goals) worked tirelessly but were ultimately no match for the defensive combination of Jemma Meehan and Nevaeh Roberts, who are quickly earning themselves a reputation as the strongest defensive combination in the Central Murray.
But it was their performance in shutting down two in-form goalers such as Bird and Walker that earned special praise from Harvey.
“Nevaeh (Roberts) and Jemma (Meehan) did a superb job shutting down their goalies, who are a beautiful goalie duo with a great mixture of speed and agility as well as height and holding,” Harvey said.
“Our defence got hands to everything and had several rebounds and hunts each and they just read their play beautifully, which put doubt in the opposition’s feeders early on in the game.”
SCORES
| Mallee Eagles | 56 |
| Cohuna | 34 |
