Macedon 54 DEF Melton 30
This week was always going to be a challenge for The Cats with Hayley Birch unavailable and Hetty Donogue out with an injury but the depth in the team had Macedon quietly confident.
The starting 7 was not The Cats usual line up, with Ciara a late with drawl after warming up. Ashley, Georgia and Eliza got the call up from B grade and after a solid performance and getting the win over Melton’s B grade they came into the team with confidence. Macedon’s GK started in the GS position,
Chloe was out in GA, Bronte started in WD, and all other positions were set with what is starting to
look like a starting 7 line up.
It was a very shaky start for the Cats and the lack of training in these positions meant that Macedon struggled to move the ball through the centre court with clear direct passes. Timing was out and it was hard work to penetrate the goal circle.
Macedon’s defence line took a little while to get started, finding themselves flat footed against a
speedy Melton front line. Melton’s tall GS positioned well and after a few shoves made herself
available for a goaler-to-goaler pass. Melton’s goalers didn’t shy away from putting a shot up and
put in a fighting first quarter After a lot of adjusting from Macedon, they managed to go toe to toe
with Melton and put 10 goals on the board in the first quarter. 10 – 8 lead.
Macedon were not going to repeat the week before s performance against Lancefield, where they
were only up by 3 after 15 minutes of play. Ash C from B grade came on into GA, Alex went back into a more familiar position in GK and Ashlea H played her first game for Macedon in WD. Macedon needed speed out in front and a strong aerial body in the back. Ash started a little shaky in goals looking to pass off to a double-teamed Chloe, but the experienced mid courter talked her through.
Chloe recognised the role she needed to play and started directing traffic in and around the ring,
only missing 2 goals from 15 attempts.
The full court defence applied to Melton, forced them to not just turn and pass but think about how
they were going to move the ball. Alex moved her feet around the tall shooter and was able to out
muscle the GS and take some clean balls, starving Melton of goals. Movement down court was still
proving to be a challenge but with patience Macedon shot 5 more than the first quarter (15) and
Melton was kept to just 6. 25 – 14.
Momentum was building for Macedon so not many changes were being made for Macedon. Eliza
came on into GA, hoping that a little of height in goals was going to make the work a bit easier for
the attackers and all other players kept their spot. Chelsea and Karlee did a great job pairing up on
the centre passes and moving the ball onto the circle edge. They looked for each other and if the
ring wasn’t open, they used each other and waited for the movement to come. Chloe fixed her
timing and held front position becoming an immediate option in the circle.
The Cats defensive 3 players were wearing their young goalers down and started to follow through
on the tight man on man defence. Ash’s hands over the ball slowed the play down and she even got
some tips, which resulted in recoveries. A missed goal from Melton meant a rebound for Macedon
and they were quick to move the ball out of defence. Melton was kept to just 4 goals while Macedon
put another 12 on the board. 37 – 18.
Macedon had the luxury of making a change and the depth was again shown with Katie coming back
on to GD, Janelle moved to WD, Bronte came was in C and the attacking line up stayed. Melton did
score 9 goals in this quarter, their highest quarter of their game, but their experienced B grade
goaler Bec coming on court made a significant difference for Melton.
The last quarter was also Macedon’s highest scoring quarter (17) but it could have been in the high 20’s had they shot more accurately. A tired attacking line up, with Chloe playing her first full game this season and Eliza already playing a full game in B grade, Chelsea and Bronte had extra give and go’s and a higher work rate than a normal week.
VOTES: Chloe Williams
2 centre 2 feeds 2 assist 1 gain 41/ 53 – 77% accuracy
