THE Mallee Eagles have continued their unbeaten season with a hard-fought seven-goal win over a determined Cohuna outfit in an extremely physical contest.
While the Kangas were playing to keep their finals hopes alive, it was the ladder leading Eagles who were first out of the blocks with a 14-goal to nine opening term.
From quarter time onwards however it was anyone’s game, with Cohuna lifting their intensity and physical pressure around the court which in turn saw them claw their way back into the contest.
Although the Kangas matched Mallee’s ability and endeavour, they weren’t able to bridge the gap on the scoreboard, with the Eagles maintaining at least a five-goal buffer for the majority of the 41-34 victory.
It was a strong defensive performance from both the Eagles and Kangas, which was highlighted by the fact that it was both teams’ lowest attacking scores for the season.
“It was a very physical game but full credit to Cohuna, they kept with us the whole 60 minutes and never let us find the momentum we were chasing,” Mallee Eagles co-coach Alicia Harvey said post-match.
“They came out hungry and firing and they are an excellent team on paper who haven’t really been performing to their best potential until the second half of the season.
“We knew it would be a tough battle against them on their home court, but we’re so proud of our girls who stood strong and played our game.
“We put all of our focus on control, composure and possession, which is what it came down to in the end and we adjusted to their strengths.
“They got a few early steals from some well orchestrated hunts in our attacking end and we knew we had to change up our play slightly to combat that, which we did.”
Among the Mallee Eagles’ better players were defenders Nevaeh Roberts and Jemma Meehan, with Meehan dominating in both hunts and rebounds, along with Kasey Torr who worked hard in transition with strong hands and pin point feeds into the ring.
For the Kangas, goal keeper Carly Geary played a key role in nullifying Gemma Miller and Mikayla O’Meara, while Carla Walker (24 goals) was also prominent at goal attack.
Although disappointed not to get the four points, Cohuna coach Georgia Anderson was full of praise for her team, who will now need to beat Kerang and Lake Boga in order to keep their finals hopes alive.
“We had the intention of continuing on our streak of good solid connection on the court, real high intensity and to push through to the final whistle,” Anderson said.
“We weren’t focused on the actual scores, we were focused on the things that are required to play finals netball, which we still hope to figure in.
“I was so impressed with our defensive efforts and we also kept pushing in attack to get it to the ring and feed our goalers how we require against floating defenders.
“I think the whole team should be proud and I really believe we took it up to Mallee, although they are the top team for a reason and they showed that, but we also showed we can get there.”
FINAL WHISTLE
| COHUNA | 34 |
|---|---|
| MALLEE EAGLES | 41 |
