Tantanoola v Port MacDonnell
Port MacDonnell took the first centre pass and scored quickly through the goalies to set the tone for a classic Mid South Eastern Netball Association encounter against Tantanoola on Saturday.
The Tigers responded with quick ball movement from Casey Walker on the wing and a safe delivery into her goalies opened their account.
Port MacDonnell’s defensive end stepped up early in the piece with Alana Winter and Belinda O’Dine causing havoc for the Tiger’s shooters.
The Demons were able to convert with Toni Gilmore not looking to miss and go into the first break up by two goals.
It was Port MacDonnell who found another level after the break and put pressure on the Tigers’ attackers.
Brooke Williams and Narelle Lewis worked well in attack and were able to find each other and deliver some accurate feeds into their goalies and extending their lead out to eight at half time.
The Tigers came out of the half time break with some changes to its line-up with Ebony Cytrowski moving into the middle and Michelle Robinson coming on to wing defence which disrupted the away side’s game plan.
Kate Bromley and Tayla Rowe were able to get some crucial turnovers and were rewarded through Emma Gould who had an impressive 14 goals to her name for the quarter.
Despite the heat both sides were not giving an inch in the final term.
Walker on the wing provided speed and precision passing in the Tigers’ attack line and was able to deliver to her goalies.
After going goal-for-goal the majority of the quarter it was Tantanoola who came up with a turnover, but it left its run too late and Port MacDonnell held on by one goal.
Hatherleigh v Kongorong
Hatherleigh scored the first goal, but it was Kongorong that settled the best to bring the fight and surprise spectators.
The Hawks converted early turnovers to push out to an early five goal lead.
Abby Wight and Maddie Pulmer took a while to adjust to the defensive pressure applied by Tori McIntyre and Sarah Lucas while Tilah Buckingham scored freely for Kongorong at the other end.
But Hatherleigh regained its composure toward the end of the quarter and led 17-11.
The second quarter saw Demi Vanderhorst attack the ball sending Hatherleigh into attack on numerous occasions.
Wight positioned well and took some good ball from Maddie Pulmer and converted truly.
At the other end Buckingham continued to keep the score ticking over and both teams went to the main break at 11-all for the quarter.
The second half was once again an even affair with Hatherleigh holding a seven-goal buffer at three quarter time thanks to some clever feeding from Erin Watson.
Injuries to Chelsea Galpin and Georgia Hunter led to Eliza Mewett entering the game in what was her first taste of A Grade action.
Hatherleigh was able to scrap out a hard-fought six-goal win, ending the game with six players against a tenacious Kongorong outfit that worked hard for 60 minutes.
Wight was a focal point for the Eagles shooting a game-high 45, closely followed by Buckingham for the Hawks.
Nangwarry v Mount Burr
The game started off strong with both teams scoring from their first centre pass.
A turnover from Mount Burr and accurate shooting from Ebony Clark allowed the Mozzies to get a jump on Nangwarry.
Pinpoint passing from Laura Schultz and Meg Fennell made it easier for Clark to hold against the Saints’ hard-working defence.
Kylie Heaver worked hard for Nangwarry driving the ball down the court well and feeding to Ange Pratt and Tahlia Wilson, but they could not stop Mount Burr carrying a five-goal lead.
The Mozzies came out strong scoring the first four goals of the second quarter.
Clark had a great battle with Meg Fennell and was on fire and with Zoe Brown passing off any opportunity in the goal circle.
In the third quarter Nangwarry came out firing, turning over numerous intercepts in the defensive end and scoring every opportunity they had, bringing the game within three goals.
But a few passing errors from the Saints opened the door for Mount Burr to rebuild its lead to 15 by the break.
Pratt and Wilson continued to work hard to score each centre pass and Heaver once again passed beautifully into the goalies, with Mount Burr up by 15 goals at thee final break.
Simone Westerman made it hard for Nangwarry to get the ball into its goalies, while Clark stood out once again shooting 12 goals in the final term as Mount Burr ran the game out well to win by 22 goals.
Robe v Kalangadoo
With a top of the table clash on the line, both teams came out firing in the first quarter with great intensity.
The Magpies shooters Kori Collins and Abbey Duncan combined well in the goal circle, with Collins shooting at 100% accuracy for the quarter.
While Robe’s goalies were not as accurate but rebounded well to keep Kalangadoo within two goals.
Robe’s Alannah Jennings and Kalangadoo’s Kirsty Egan had a great battle on the wing with Robe putting lots of pressure on every ball down the court.
However, the Magpies had their eye on any opportunity to take an intercept and hold onto a slender lead.
Duncan’s quick movement and passing made it hard for Robe’s defenders to get in front to keep building the lead despite some inaccurate shooting from the black and white.
In the final quarter Robe made some positional changes to give some more defensive pressure down the court.
After the first few minutes Collins came off with an injury and Maddy Bonanno came on into goal shooter for Kalangadoo.
Some accurate shooting by Robe in the final quarter was not enough to keep Kalangadoo at bay, with Duncan scoring eight of their nine goals for the quarter to come 42-35 winners.
