Close to the very end

ST MARY’S coach Bruce Waldron believes he saw flashes of his side’s best netball in a hardfought three-goal win over Leopold on Saturday.

Both sides endured “all four seasons in one game” in a tight finish after the Saints needed until the final quarter to edge clear in a match that ebbed and flowed all day. Scores were tied at three-quarter time before St Mary’s finished stronger, winning 49-46.

“Leopold were ahead for the majority of the game, it was very up and down,” Waldron said. “We seemed to get back to even and then fall two or three goals behind again and we were down with five minutes to go. However, I believe we had some of our best patches of netball for the year today.” Position changes at quarter-time saw Riley Stephens don the centre bib, amping up the Saints’ drive through the midcourt. It proved to be a key move, with Stephens influential in the win, while Hannah Van Gemst shot 35 of her side’s goals to provide a reliable target in attack.

Junior star Emma Walters starred in her Agrade debut, capping off a successful week where she was named in the under-17 Australian squad.

Waldron said it was “extremely hard” to single players out because of the strong contests across all areas of the court.

Lions’ shooter Bridgette Furphy endured some knocks from a strong defence but held her own in the goal circle with 22 goals, while Zanna Woods shot her 24 goals at 89 per cent.

Down the other end, teammate Genevieve O’Connor kept the defence strong.

Leopold coach Kirsty Heazlewood said the bye had come at a good time.

“It will be good to give the girls a week off to refresh the legs,” she said. “Week in, week out, every game is super close. The lead today changed six or seven times, I absolutely expected a close game and full credit to the Saints.”

Waldron was pleased with the Saints’ standing entering the break. “I’d probably prefer to keep playing but to be 4-1 at the bye I’m very pleased,” he said. “If we lost today there’s always the chance we’d be playing catch-up for the rest of the season. Most years you have an idea by now of where the competition is but I think we’re three or four rounds away from being able to make any sweeping statements.”