Colac defence leads attack on top four
COLAC coach Sara Hay has hailed her side’s defensive pressure after disarming Leopold’s quick ball movement in Saturday’s crucial 48-41 win.
The Tigers jumped from sixth to fourth, leapfrogging the Lions, in a wide open race to finals where one match separates fourth to eighth.
Leopold is suddenly at risk of missing the finals after dropping its past three matches, highlighted again by inconsistencies creeping into its game.
Hay was thrilled with a seven-goal win, a result set up in a blistering opening quarter in which the Tigers skipped eight goals clear before holding a 16-10 lead at the first break.
The Tigers are now determined to keep banking wins to stay ahead of the bottleneck of teams chasing a finals berth.
“Our defensive pressure got us across the line, we stopped Leopold’s run on and their quick ball movement,” Hay said.
Goaler Rebecca Scott rewarded the defenders’ work by shooting 30 goals at almost 80 per cent.
Kelsey Lang, Georgia Finn and Jessie Lang were the standouts for the Tigers.
“Our run home will be tough, but we are looking forward to the challenges, to playing consistent netball and settling our line up,” Hay said.
“Gabby Rieniets is set to return in the next few weeks, which will add to our depth, and give us attacking options.”
With the chance of VNL finals for many players in the Colac line-up, the Tigers may encounter some potential scheduled clashes with some of the later VNL finals.
Kirsty Heazlewood’s Lions continue to work on their consistency after a patchy game on Saturday.
“It was a very fast-paced game and Colac got off to a great start with an eight-goal lead in just five minutes,” Heazlewood said.
“We will need to continue to work on playing consistent netball, as that is what we are lacking at the moment.
“Our strength today was our defensive pressure right across the court, however we didn’t capitalise on it.
“Our attacking end was shut down by a tight, fierce Colac defensive end, which made it very hard for us to score.” Lara — Best: Grovedale — J. Schaftenaar, S. Robertson, H. Livingston.
C. Lino, E.G. Johnstone, G.E. Stavenuiter. Goals: Colac — Best: Colac — Leopold — B. Hyland. Best: Sth Barwon — A. Corrigan.
J. Soden, B. Walton, K. Sheringham. K. Aguila 9, Best: St Joseph’s — K. Payne, M. Jovic, G. Clark. North Shore — A. Bol, K. Carroll, J. Lanigan.
H. Van Gemst 26, J. McDonald 7, M. Gribble 4. Geelong West — Best: St Mary’s — K. Knott 55, J. Woolley 14. K. Knott, A. Wirth, S. Wolff.