Macedon (42) Won (36) Melton Centrals
We knew this game was going to test us, as Melton was second on the ladder. We didn’t have a full bench with Georgia H unavailable but our team is very versatile and with an A grader on the bench we knew that we would have what it takes to take the 4 points.
We started the first quarter as well as we have started every other game this season. We valued possession, kept the ball short and threw the long pass when it was a sure thing. Demi in WA drove hard for the centre passes and Demi Y made good choice in which option she would offload too. Demi F was killing it in the goal third, directing play and servicing our goalers. Sami and Georgia moved cleanly in the goal circle and shot well in the windy conditions.
In defence we were pulled by the umpire for our distance, something we will address at training, but our contesting was hard and didn’t attract too much whistle. By defending tight, our defenders didn’t get too many recoveries in hand but they did force Melton to turn over the ball. It was a fairly even contest but we had a 3-goal lead 12- 9.
Demi could no longer play due to an injury and Nellie came on into WA, as less familiar position for our team. Once the team adjusted to the change of players and timing we found some nice passages in our attack. We shot 9 from 15, which could have been costly if our whole court defence wasn’t so strong. Our turnover count tripled (7) but so did our recovery count. Dels tightened up and the reward was instant. She recovered 3 balls and spoilt another. Demi in the C intercepted 2 passes and Aleigha picked up 2 gains. Our defensive pressure was making it very hard for Melton to close the gap. 21 – 19.
We reduced our attacking turnovers but 5 bad passes was still on the high side. We didn’t struggle to get the centre passes off but the second phase at timing become the challenge. Feeds became the main source of find our goalers and the goalers continue to shoot with confidence over a tall Melton defensive line up.
There wasn’t a lot of whistle as we continued to contest the ball with man on man defence. Recoveries reduced with only 2 intercepts and 1 rebound. Melton’s GS found a good position in the circle and shot with confidence. She shot 9 goals and rebounded all 3 missed shots. Boxing out and staying alert is something we are going to work on at training this week. We lost the 3rd quarter, 8 -10 and the score going into the last quarter was 29 all.
The girls dug deep for the last 12 minutes of the game and were not going to see the game finish in a drew as we learnt from our Diggers Rest game. Our feeds and assists became something that all 4 attackers participated in and this made us less predicable for the Melton defenders. Georgia came out and assisted with bring the ball down court and Sammi finished off shooting 100%. The attacking line up finished the game the way we started.
Demi Y smashed it in the mid court defensively with 3 gains and an intercept. She recovered 4 balls in the centre- something that is extremely difficult to do. Aleigha had her best quarter with 3 tips, 1 gain, 1 intercept and a rebound. Her goaler was kept to 4 from 8 (50%) in the last quarter. A great 4th quarter effort from all 7 players and we smashed the last quarter 13- 7. A good and well earnt win 42 – 36.
