Macedon 60 DEF Wallan 19
Wallan were another team this year that was a little unknown but based on what Macedon did know round 3 was not going to be a walk in the park. Up until this point Wallan were undefeated having beaten Romsey, Melton, and the Rams. Macedon had a great training session in the lead up to this game and were determined to correct some of their common errors from their previous games.
Macedon started with a different attacking line up to the last 3 rounds with Hetty in GS, Chloe in GA, Ciara out on the wing. It was an impressive start on the dry court with Macedon getting off to a strong start. The familiar defensive end was relentless with their man-on-man pressure and Wallan struggled to keep up. Macedon shot the last 5 goals of the quarter pushing the first quarter score out to 18 – 7.
With such a healthy lead, Macedon kept the same 7 players on court. The game plan had to change because the clouds opened and what was a fast-paced game needed to change. Macedon started getting scrappy and were turning over a lot of ball in the wet. Once the team made the necessary adjustments and started to make smart short choices, the goals started to pile up again. 24 recoveries coming from the full court defensive pressure meant that Wallan only went on to score 4 goals in the second quarter. The lead was looking harder for Wallan to catch 31 -11.
Three fresh players took the court for the second half and Macedon looked like a new team for the second half. Our bad passes were back to a healthy 3 and goal assists were shared between the WA and GA. Hetty held strong and contested balls hard even when in a two on one scenario. She recovered well and shot 14 straight goals.
Hayley Birch was the front-line defence for the Cats, cleanly taking 3 intercepts in 15 minutes, while sitting in the back, Alex and Janelle’s timing over Wallan’s goalers shot kept them to shooting at 44%. Score board pressure and Macedon’s defensive g pressure was building throughout the quarter and Wallan didn’t stand a chance. Macedon 45 – Wallan 15.
Another change for the last quarter and Janelle, Ciara and Hayley all took to the bench. Macedon seized the opportunity to try yet another combination. Katie moved out into GD, Karlee came on into WD and Chloe paired up with Hetty in the goal ring. The Cats clearly had a game plan and a target they wanted to reach for the last quarter. Macedon got a bit scrappy turning over the ball 9 times this quarter, but they also switched to defensive mode very quickly and recovered 9 clean intercepts. A less experienced Wallan side struggled to keep up with a more experience Macedon. Macedon went on to shoot another 15 goals and kept Wallan to just the 4. An impressive win 60 -19.
Best On: Hetty Donoghue
49 goals 9 Rebounds 2 Assists 1 Feed 1 Intercept
