General News
5 May, 2022
Magpie netballers get first win in Portland
CAMPERDOWN claimed its first win of the 2022 Hampden Netball League (HNL) season, emerging victorious away against Portland on the weekend.
CAMPERDOWN claimed its first win of the 2022 Hampden Netball League (HNL) season, emerging victorious away against Portland on the weekend.
The win lifts the Magpies to eight on the ladder, and the 55-42 victory provides a welcome, if small, boost to their percentage.
After an evenly-fought first quarter, Camperdown kicked away in the second period, outshooting Portland by 17 goals to 10 to lead at the half-time break 29-21.
The Magpies retained control thereafter, adding to the margin in each of the last two quarters to complete a convincing 13-goal win.
Lily Eldridge and Krystal Baker delivered in attack for Camperdown, scoring 32 and 23 goals, respectively, while Brooke Richardson delivered a trademark performance, anchoring the defence with composure.
Youngster Mary Place stepped up her game this week, playing an impactful role at wing attack after a full game in the under 17 side earlier in the day.
Magpies coach Leah Sinnott said she and her side were “extremely pleased” to get the win despite noting plenty of areas for improvement.
“It wasn’t our best game, or our prettiest, but to get one on the board going into the bye round is nice,” she said.
“We were really flat in the first quarter, we didn’t have a lot of pace, so we made some changes to our attacking end in the quarter break, which seemed to open things up for us and allow us to get the jump there.
“We made a lot of errors, and there were things we felt we could do a lot better, but you’ve got to take the positives.
“Winning was one of them, and the fact that we didn’t let the marginfall away.”
Sinnott noted her side had a tendency through the first three games to lose pace with its opponents in final quarters and was happy to see that remedied in the win against Portland.
“Our first game against Terang, we felt we could have won that, and obviously the next two against South and Cobden were going to be a big ask, but we were really competitive in the first half of those games,” she said.
“We’ve identified that we’ve tended to fall off in the last half of games, so this week, while it wasn’t our best game, it was really pleasing that we didn’t drop away or fade off towards the end.
“We did have opportunities to be a bit further ahead than what we were, but we got there.”
Camperdown host Port Fairy when the HNL resumes on May 14, and Sinnott said the team would try to build on the way it played against Portland.
“Port Fairy are in a bit of a similar position to what we’re in,” she said.
“But we see every game as an opportunity to get a win, some are just more realistic than others.
“Against Cobden, or South, you just hope to be competitive in those games.
“We went in against Portland hoping we’d get a win, and we’ll do the same against Port Fairy.”
Sinnott hopes to see her side solidify into a regular line-up after a tumultuous start to the season.
“It’s been a really hectic start to the season, like I’ve never experienced before,” she said.
“It’s due to COVID, and ins and outs; we’re playing juniors who are playing a game prior to us, and if they’re out unwell or what have you there are major effects through all our teams.
“These last few rounds we’ve done a lot of juggling, I don’t feel like we’ve quite settled into the rhythm that we can get yet.
“I’m hoping that, fingers crossed, over the next few weeks we can settle into more of a routine as a team.”
In other HNL games last weekend Terang Mortlake lost to Warrnambool by two points, Cobden defeated Port Fairy, and North Warrnamboolbeat Hamilton.