TOOLEYBUC-MANANGATANG v WOORINEN
A SEVEN-goal run to end the second quarter has seen Woorinen record back-to-back victories, with the Tigers defeating Tooleybuc-Manangatang by 17 goals on Saturday.
The turning point in the 57-40 result occurred when Saints defender Olivia Fowler left the court mid-way through the second quarter with injury, which threw the home team’s defence into panic.
Woorinen’s Tayla Bennett took full advantage, scoring six of the seven goals to end the quarter and give her team an eight-goal lead heading into the main break.
From there, the Tigers never relented, with Bennett praising her team’s resilience after injury and illness impacting their preparation during the week.
It was a great win, we had a lot of changes this week, however Saturday just showed the depth within our club and how supportive we are to get behind one another and get the job done,” Bennett said.
“Tooleybuc-Manangatang tested us at times and I think that’s a credit to them and their netball and how well they are developing as a team.”
Tooleybuc-Manangatang coach Mel Wait was philosophical after the loss and preferred to look at the positives, with her team managing to keep pace with one of the premiership contenders for the first quarter and a half.
“We were very good for one and a half quarters, but when ‘Liv’ (Fowler) came off with tight calves I think we lost focus and panicked, which is probably a youth thing.
“We just had a few lapses and the score blew out, but there were lots of positives.”
Taylah Morris was among the better players for the Swans, while Bennett was best for the Tigers after shooting 48 of her team’s 57 goals.
Final Score
| Tooleybuc-Manangatang | 40 |
| Woorinen | 57 |
LAKE BOGA v COHUNA
COHUNA have climbed into the top five for the first time this season after defeating Lake Boga by five goals on the weekend.
The Kangas got the jump on the Magpies from the opening whistle with a 17-goal to 11 first quarter giving giving them a six-goal lead at quarter time.
Lake Boga would fight back after the break, but were unable to get back into the match, with Cohuna extending their lead to 10 goals at three-quarter time before holding on to win 52-47.
Cohuna coach Georgia Anderson was pleased with her team’s performance, with the Kangas moving ahead of Swan Hill in the race for fifth place.
“I wasn’t expecting an easy match and from what I saw across the day, Lake Boga must have good structure within their club because their younger players all have good skills,” Anderson said.
We took the opportunity to shuffle our girls around as we were missing Carla (Walker), but we had too many unforced errors again.
“We need to manage our pace better as it causes us to be out of sync, but once we get that right we’ll be firing.”
Danni Bird was best on for Cohuna, with Marli Easton another strong performer after playing in the midcourt for much of the afternoon.
Lake Boga shooter Milla Holt scored 36 goals to be the Magpies’ best player, while Felicity Robertson was resolute in defence, with Lake Boga coach Lisa Ryan “proud” of her team’s character in recent weeks.
“The way our girls are playing against teams that have experienced A graders and more depth across the court, the ladder and the losses don’t represent how we have been going, which is tough,” Ryan said.
“Being competitive against better opposition is all I can ask and I am thoroughly impressed with my young ones stepping up and my old girls still showing they have it.”
Final Score
| Lake Boga | 47 |
| Cohuna | 52 |
MALLEE EAGLES v TYNTYNDER
THE Mallee Eagles have continued their unbeaten start to the season with a dominant 29-goal win over Tyntynder at Lalbert on Saturday.
The Eagles proved unstoppable from the opening minutes of the match, taking an eight-goal lead into quarter time, before running away with the game to record a 58-29 victory.
Mallee co-coach Alicia Harvey was happy with her team’s performance after the match, with the Eagles maintaining top spot on the ladder.
“We had some great passages of play and the individual efforts down the court were massive in getting us the win,” Harvey said.
“We have been focusing on coming out firing right from the start to get the lead nice and early and that’s exactly what the girls did on Saturday.
“We felt that the midcourt matched up really well across both sides and credit to Tyntynder, who were very speedy and agile in their attack.
“In the end it just came down to the defensive pressure and forced errors; our defence read the play beautifully and worked hard, making it difficult to penetrate.”
Julia Amezdroz and Jemma Meehan were best on court for the Eagles, while Bridgette King was strong in defence for the Bulldogs and Taylah Woodward’s provided relentless pressure at wing defence.
While disappointed with the final result, Tyntynder co-coach Bridget Dedini was happy with her team’s spirit against the ladder leaders.
“It was a tough day at the office, but I thought we had some good passages of play they were just overall better drilled than us,” Dedini said.
“Their goalies shot beautifully and obviously their defensive pressure was very strong.
“We knew it was going to be tough, so we just focused on setting small goals on what to improve on in each quarter.”
Final Score
| Mallee Eagles | 58 |
| Tyntynder | 29 |
KERANG v BALRANALD
A 16-goal to 11 first quarter helped Kerang extend their winning streak to seven, with the Blues recording an 11-goal win over Balranald on the weekend.
The Blues were well served by shooters Katelyn Wright (30 goals) and Denise Roberts (25 goals), with the pair combining perfectly to cause havoc in the Roos defensive third all afternoon.
The 55-44 win pleased Kerang co-coach Chloe Adams, despite her team making small errors throughout the afternoon.
“It felt like a tight contest all game, we didn’t execute the basics as well as we would have liked and fumbled a bit of ball so it felt a little scrappy at times,” Adams said.
“However our attack end really settled in the second half and found some great space on the ring and fed our goalers well.
“Defensively we won a fair bit of ball, which was great.
“Balranald worked hard all game and made lots of smart changes so it definitely didn’t feel easy, but we were happy to come away the win.”
Taylin Barry and Chloe Taylor in the midcourt, along with Bec Harvey in goals were the better players for Balranald.
Final Score
| Kerang | 55 |
| Balranald | 44 |
