Eagles continue to climb

THE Mallee Eagles unbeaten season has continued with an 11-goal victory over rivals Swan Hill on the weekend.

Having been knocked out of the finals two years running by the Swans, the Eagles could have enacted their revenge on Saturday, with 54-43 result not only guaranteeing top spot for the blue and gold army, but also seeing the Swans fall to seventh.

The loss means Swan Hill are now at risk of missing the finals and will need to beat both Tooleybuc-Manangatang and Koondrook-Barham if they are to be any chance of breaking back into the top five.

The Eagles were without goal shooter Megan Thorneycroft, with Mikayla O’Meara showing how strong Mallee’s depth is with a solid 24 goal performance.

It was a display that earned praise from Mallee Eagles co-coach Alicia Harvey, who spoke in glowing terms of O’Meara’s game post-match.

“We are so fortunate to have incredible depth within our netball club this year that whenever there is an absence or injury, we have a bench full of superstars who are full of talent, experience and fight in them to help get the job done,” Harvey said.

“Mikayla had an astounding performance at goal shooter, the connection she had with Julia (Amezdroz), Kasey (Torr) and Lily (Brennan) in that attacking end was phenomenal and it looked like she had played there with us all year.

“There was heaps to take away from yesterday’s game, both positive and constructive.

“Swan Hill are a very strong side and we knew they were going to be hungry for the four points and after only going down to Kerang by one goal the week before proved how much they want it.

“While we were very successful last time we played them earlier in the year, we knew we had to start fresh and focus on our game and our opposition on the day, rather than focusing on the past.”

The Eagles had winners on every line, with O’Meara named one of her team’s better players, along with wing attack Kasey Torr and defender Jemma Meehan.

Although Mallee are the highest scoring team in the Central Murray this season, they placed a significant focus on their defensive play with finals just around the corner according to Harvey.

“Our defensive end worked tirelessly against some extremely accurate and mobile goalies,” Harvey said.

“Early on, we put our focus into making it difficult for them to penetrate that mid third and on getting it up to their attacking ring, stopping their goalies from swinging those angles and I think we got a lot of our steals there.

“In the end it was pretty evenly matched across the court but I think we just utilised our possession smarter, particularly in the warm weather.

“There’s still several things we want to work on and fine tune before finals, but Jess (Jobling) and I are stoked with all of the girls’ performances this week, especially coming off a bye.”

For Swan Hill, the loss leaves the perennial finallists in a three club battle with the Saints and Kangas for the final top five spot.

While disappointed to not get the four points, Swan Hill coach Casey Frame was still pleased with several elements of her team’s performance,

“I felt we were very competitive for most of the match, we got within five or six goals and never let it blow out far past 10,” Frame said.

“Both teams needed to rotate players to try and get on top and also manage the warmer conditions.

“I was pleased how we kept with them, we played a tight one-on-one in defence and made them work hard.

“We looked after the ball in attack really well and had goal defence rotation in the circle at times, but once again, lapses in concentration let us down in moments of each quarter.

“They (Mallee Eagles) are a great team and we gave up a 10-goal lead, which was always going to be difficult to peg back.”

Hayley Neuschafer, Miela Roberts and Kelly Bonney were named better players for Swan Hill.

FINAL WHISTLE

Swan Hill	43
Mallee Eagles	54