Macedon 47 DEF Diggers Rest 20
Diggers Rest were the unknown this season, their player list for the ANZAC clash was not complete with only 5 players registered for the game and there were some not-so-familiar names written on the list on game day.
Macedon went with a different starting line-up for round 2 and only listed 9 players as Alex was unavailable. After last week’s game Hetty earned the start in GS and Bronte got the start in WD. Macedon got off to a 6-goal lead early in the first quarter but were finding it challenging to find a clear path into the goal ring. Diggers Rest strong defensive line were not making it easy and Macedon’s accuracy at goals was also suffering but with Macedon’s tall timber in GS, four of those misses were recovered. The familiar circle defence of Katie Clarke and Janelle Tate sensed a chink in Diggers Rest attacking line up and they pounced. A total of 17 recoveries/ spoils and keeping Diggers goalers to 50% accuracy for the 15 minutes was outstanding and set Macedon up for the second quarter.
Chloe came on in the second quarter replacing Hetty and the other 6 players kept their position on court. Macedon were having no troubles with centre passes, however, were still struggling to make good choices with their passes and timing seemed a little off. This is becoming the pattern and is something that Macedon are going to have to adjust too, especially when they come up against the higher teams. Feeds and assists were dominated by Karlee in C and Chloe was a high-volume shooter, shooting 12 from 14 attempts.
The defensive pressure was tight all down the court and for most part the Cats were staying in play. The relentless man on man pressure up front allowed Katie in goalkeeper to sweep up in the back line. Katie read the play extremely well and recovered 5 clean intercepts. Diggers goaler were supplied with a bit more ball but were inaccurate. Macedon went on to finish the quarter with 6 unanswered goals. A strong first quarter and good start to the first half of the game 25 – 8.
Hayley Birch, one of last weeks best players came on at half time in WD and cleared 2 intercepts, a gain and a tip. The defensive pressure applied in the centre third, meant that Janelle played a tagging role in GD. Diggers were forced to pass the ball, flirting with 3 seconds and Macedon’s back line again cleaned it up. A full-court slog meant that every Cats player recovered a ball.
With Macedon having so much ball, decision-making took a hit. Almost every Macedon player threw a bad pass in the third quarter and had a brief lapse in judgement and undoing the high recovery count. Chelsea played a strong WA this quarter, easily taking the centre passes and becoming the main feeder into the goalers. Diggers strong and tall goal keeper made it very hard for the goalers to
shoot accurately and with another 5 misses Macedon called an injury time and switched out the
goalers. This had little impact with only 6 goals being scored in the second half of the quarter.
Macedon won the quarter 12 – 9 but there were some things that the coach needed to address heading into the last quarter.
Macedon started with a different attacking line up, with Chloe and Hetty playing in the ring together with Ciara feeding in WA. They started strong with 5 straight goals before fatigue set in and the game became very sloppy, especially with goaling accuracy. Macedon stayed reasonably clean in defence with almost every Cats player recovering a ball. Diggers were kept to scoring just the 3 goals for the quarter. I can only imagine what the score would have been if Macedon cleaned up their attack and shot accurately. If this is a sign of what Macedon has to come, the opposition needs to be worried.
Best On and winner of the ANZAC day medal: Katie Clarke
15 Tips 8 Gains 12 Intercepts 4 Rebounds