General News
19 August, 2021
Defence helps Bloods record second open netball victory
STRONG defensive pressure across four quarters helped Terang Mortlake break its eight game Hampden league open netball winless run last Saturday.
STRONG defensive pressure across four quarters helped Terang Mortlake break its eight game Hampden league open netball winless run last Saturday.
The Bloods recorded a 48-35 victory over Port Fairy on the back of a strong second half performance.
Both sides were level entering quarter time before the Seagulls pushed two goals clear at the main break.
But Bloods coach Liz Fowler said her side’s defensive pressure eventually wore Port Fairy down, with Terang Mortlake outscoring the Seagulls 29-14 in the second half.
“I thought the girls were really hungry for it this week,” she said.
“We spoke about finishing off the season really well and I think we got a good four quarters from everyone on the team.
“I thought our defensive pressure was constant across the court, we just ended up turning over plenty of balls.
“It was a credit to our attackers as well as our defenders, there was pressure on for the whole game.”
Experienced mid-courter Faye Clarke and attacker Jacqui Arundell (29 goals) were among the Bloods best players, but Fowler felt every player contributed in the victory.
“Faye Clarke was fantastic in the middle, she just has so much experience and is a really calm leader through the midcourt,” she said.
“Jacqui Arundell kept pushing forward and driving all day so she was fantastic too but everyone across the court played well.
“Emma (Lucas) and Alice (Tanner) worked well in defence, while Ava Grundy played the first half in goal shooter and she is getting better and better with each game.
“Then Sophie Lehmann came on and she is probably just that little bit more experienced than Ava and she was really good and strong. Our midcourters were good too, Grace Wareham kept driving and had plenty of defensive pressure and Laura (Ritchie) and May (Suhan) in the wings chipped away and got a couple of turnovers.”
Fowler went further to say she was proud of her side’s ability to cover the absence of Brooke Hoare.
The coach said she was unsure if the defender will line-up in the Bloods final game against Hamilton Kangaroos this Saturday.
“It was a really good effort by the girls to get a win on the board and having Brooke back will only add to our strength on court,” Fowler said.
“It was nice knowing we could do it without her.
“I also want to see how the girls go backing it up. They’ll be looking to put together four good, strong, consistent quarters of netball.”
Meanwhile, Will Kain’s 10 goal haul headlined the Bloods comfortable senior football triumph.
Terang Mortlake kicked away from the Seagulls in the opening quarter en route to recording a big 24.13 (157) to 7.7 (49) victory.
Kain was best on ground, while Joe Arundell, Jarryd Hay and Matthew Arundell also played well.
Bloods coach Ben Kenna said his side’s confidence grew as the match wore on which was evident in Kain’s goalkicking display.
“Even with Will he kicked three points before he kicked his first goal so he was probably slowly building into the game and then he got a couple under his belt and he was away,” he said.
Kenna said the performance was an indication of what the Bloods could consistently produce if they string four quarters together.
“It was only our third win for the year but we have played some good footy in patches, we just haven’t been able to do it for long enough,” he said.
“We know that’s partly our fault and partly the opposition not allowing us to do that.
“I think our confidence has been dented a bit over the last couple of months but you could tell watching the game they we were willing to do things with more instinct than earlier in the season.”
With one game to go, Kenna said he wanted the Bloods to finish the year strongly.
“We’ve just got to make sure we don’t get complacent and come with the same effort and attitude,” he said.
“Obviously one more win would be great for the boys confidence. Everyone wants to finish, whether they play finals or not, with a win so hopefully we can do that.”
